It's All in the Genes
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^^^^lol. I wouldn't say all of it is "in the genes". Sometimes it might be, but in most cases (ref. to antisocial behavior) it has a lot to do with the parents. 90% of what parents do will determine the outcome of their child's behavior, ultimately. Say you're an "anti-social" person, your significant other is "anti-social" as well. The way you and your SO choose to have your child behave in public will have a major effect on them. And there are always be kids who are born spit-fire little pistols, regardless of mom and dad's personality. That was kind of all over the place, lol. Hope you caught my drift. 
Peter Parka
Well-Known Member
I think some people can be more pre dispositioned to some kinds of anti social behaviour than others but upbringing and past expeririences is far more common reason. Either way, none of them should be relied on as an excuse and it's down to the person and society to give them the help they need to admit they are wrong and change their attitude and behaviour.
Zeitgeist ftw
This was one of the parts that really stuck with me from the start of that video Ed, because you do hear 'it's in your genes to be fat/lazy/angry' all the time these days, but it made far more sense the way they put it - it's a good excuse because it explains things without threatening how they are or suggesting you could change them. It lets people off the hook for being obese or stupid or smokers, or the myriad of other things you can now explain by 'it's genetic!'
Nature gives us predispositions, but our environment overall determines whether those predispositions ever come to affect us in a significant way.
This was one of the parts that really stuck with me from the start of that video Ed, because you do hear 'it's in your genes to be fat/lazy/angry' all the time these days, but it made far more sense the way they put it - it's a good excuse because it explains things without threatening how they are or suggesting you could change them. It lets people off the hook for being obese or stupid or smokers, or the myriad of other things you can now explain by 'it's genetic!'
Nature gives us predispositions, but our environment overall determines whether those predispositions ever come to affect us in a significant way.
Zeitgeist ftw
This was one of the parts that really stuck with me from the start of that video Ed, because you do hear 'it's in your genes to be fat/lazy/angry' all the time these days, but it made far more sense the way they put it - it's a good excuse because it explains things without threatening how they are or suggesting you could change them. It lets people off the hook for being obese or stupid or smokers, or the myriad of other things you can now explain by 'it's genetic!'
Nature gives us predispositions, but our environment overall determines whether those predispositions ever come to affect us in a significant way.
:clap Agreed!
this maybe a generational thing but my parents never talked to us like we were the good little kids and we were stars in their eyes. My father wasa truck driver and all he knew how to do was work, mind you he owned his own business and he was the only driver, but I remember him working from sunup to sundown. The way his work ethic paid off allowed my brother and I (I am one of five: four boys and one girl) to go to private school. We were never indoctrinated in the way my folks thought, spoke, shared...they were never taught that way either and now I am happy to share with my nieces and nephews what makes us, us. I see traits in my nieces and nephews that are still part of me, does it mean I was raised bad? No, my parents did their best with what they had.
I think our traits including behavior are largely determined by a combination of environment and genetics. For example, we are genetically programmed to learn language. But if we're not exposed to it then we won't learn it. Or a person who has the genes to be tall will not grow tall without proper nutrition. Or a person who has a natural pleasant disposition can be made mean through abuse.
I try not to be too judgmental of others because if I would have lived in their environment and had their genes then I very likely would have turned out the same as them. But at the same time I try not to use environment and genetics as an excuse for my own faults. It would be a self defeating attitude to give up. I try to change what I don't like.
I try not to be too judgmental of others because if I would have lived in their environment and had their genes then I very likely would have turned out the same as them. But at the same time I try not to use environment and genetics as an excuse for my own faults. It would be a self defeating attitude to give up. I try to change what I don't like.
Defiant Tuesday
Active Member
I agree with BornReady. I think it can be a combination of learned behaiviors, as well as, genetics. There was research done on it awhile ago and it stated that individuals who have antisocail personality disorder tend to have a smaller part of the brain that is responsible for learning from ones mistakes. It has also been said that children growing up in homes where there is a lack of discipline and lack of affection, whose gentics are free from antisocial personality traits have a high chance of becoming antisocial. This is due to lack of consistent structure and behavioral boundaries.
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Vamperella
New Member
To quote the controversial Phillip Larkin....
This Be The Verse
They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.
But they were fucked up in their turn
By fools in old-style hats and coats,
Who half the time were soppy-stern
And half at one another's throats.
Man hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
And don't have any kids yourself.
I would imagine there are a number of contributing factors that result in anti social behaviour. But to suggest that genetics is the culprit is rather unfair.
Drugs
Socio-economics
Media influence
To name just a few. Personally, i think it comes down to choices....and how we "choose" to behave.
Life was sooo much easier living out of a cave. You only had a few reptiles to contend with for survival back then.....ho hum
This Be The Verse
They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.
But they were fucked up in their turn
By fools in old-style hats and coats,
Who half the time were soppy-stern
And half at one another's throats.
Man hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
And don't have any kids yourself.
I would imagine there are a number of contributing factors that result in anti social behaviour. But to suggest that genetics is the culprit is rather unfair.
Drugs
Socio-economics
Media influence
To name just a few. Personally, i think it comes down to choices....and how we "choose" to behave.
Life was sooo much easier living out of a cave. You only had a few reptiles to contend with for survival back then.....ho hum
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KimmyCharmeleon
Well-Known Member
Well, since being shown some *amazing* stuff on this, my mind is definitely changed. Genetics contribute to the behaviour being expressed, but it doesn't come entirely from it. For as long as you have an environment, that environment will influence you and your genes. Studies have proven this as well.
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So you all know, this is the latest in scientific understanding on the matter:
The environment has been shown to effect which genes are turned on and off.
So the environment is intertwined with genetics. Our environment has an astoundingly large effect on us, bigger than was ever previously thought.
The environment has been shown to effect which genes are turned on and off.
So the environment is intertwined with genetics. Our environment has an astoundingly large effect on us, bigger than was ever previously thought.
Accountable
Well-Known Member
The environment is huge, but not everything. Those studies about twins separated at birth & still growing up to be similar ... that's spooky!
Peter Parka
Well-Known Member
That's the latest scientific understanding? Funny, I and most people have known that for years! You dont exactly need to be a genious in a white coat with a clipboard to work it out!
KimmyCharmeleon
Well-Known Member
I think it's just that there's the misperception that because something is deemed "genetic" it apparently means that you can't change it. But it's been proven wrong, genes can be changed inside the womb from the environment.
The environment is huge, but not everything. Those studies about twins separated at birth & still growing up to be similar ... that's spooky!
this is now explainable: it has been shown that environmental conditioning begins as soon as a foetus can detect it's environment - inside the womb. Twins have the identical experience inside the womb, where the turning on and off of genes occurs.
It wasn't previously provable because so little was understood about genetics. And it wasn't understood at all just how big an effect the environment has on genetics.
I think he meant it was more of a common sense thing. Most people know that the environment you live in effects the physical and mental aspect. Take living in Alaska, for example. Half of the year, it's dark. Sunlight has an effect on serotonin levels. The lower your serotonin, the higher your risk for depression/anxiety and a number of other social behavioral problems.
Of course, this has been known on some level for a good while. However the level of how much we're affected by our environment is now much more thoroughly understood - and it reaches far deeper, right back to the moment humans can detect the environment they're in - which is in the womb.
The thing with serotonin isn't genetic though, it's simply a reaction on a larger biological level. This goes way deeper, right to the smallest level of ourselves.
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