How much of your personality can/ do you attribute to your genetics/ ethnicity?

[My Pet Powder Goat]

never knew my bio-dad till a week before he passed, his buddies say i'm just like him.
go figure, huh?

Similar situation. My bio dad passed when I was 2. Many say we share very similar characteristics and mannerisms.

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[Meadow Skipper]

British+Swiss background=punctual, reserved, sarcastic asshole. I'd say there's something to the genetics argument.

[glademaster]

I'm of Spanish and Polish ancestry, which might mean I enjoy red wine with my pierogi, I'm dark haired yet pale, quick to anger, not really bothered by antisemitism and that I have a strong subconscious desire to drive Muslims out of Europe...again.

[berko]

This doesn't make any sense to me. It is just as likely that my kids share my behaviors, affinities and struggles because they learned them from me and the Mrs., as that those are somehow genetically pre-determined. Add to that the fact that they are growing up not only in your presence, but in largely the same culture you grew up in, maybe even in the same subcutlures, and even micro-cultures.

My brother's adopted son has the same facial expressoins as my brother. Intersting anecdote, but no more.

Interesting that you are using ananecdotal observation to support your argument against anecdotal observations. 😎

As an adoptee with biological and adopted kids, I tend to agree with buster. But then again, I tend to agree with most of his posts.

[Buster Highmen]

This doesn't make any sense to me.

Why am I not surprised?

It is just as likely that my kids share my behaviors, affinities and struggles because they learned them from me and the Mrs., as that those are somehow genetically pre-determined. Add to that the fact that they are growing up not only in your presence, but in largely the same culture you grew up in, maybe even in the same subcutlures, and even micro-cultures.

OK, then why did my son eschew teddy bears/soft toys in favor of trucks, trains and tools? Why did my daughter prefer dolls, etc to the trucks etc? Are these genetic or not? Neither kids was exposed to either except as toys.

There was no real reason for a number of my son's behaviors which I'd rather not go into, but they are consistent with some well known syndromes that my father exhibits.

My brother's adopted son has the same facial expressoins as my brother. Intersting anecdote, but no more.

That's kind of inconsistent to assert anecdotal information but then dismiss it. I'm not claiming mine is more than anecdotal.

What I do mean to point out is how my view has changed; being a parent has significantly changed my position on nuture vs. nature to weighting the nature a lot more. Your mulage may vary.

[flatlander#2]

Wow, interesting number of adopted bastards around.

I think the older you get the more genetics/nature comes on over environmental/nuture. In my case, two older siblings adopted no idea on their background, I was adopted and then my mother had my little brother genetic at age 38. About 18 years ago my genetic grandmother opened the connection between genetic mother and myself. My family I grew up with I still have tons in common with and consider my family. As I get older and spend less time around any of them I see myself getting some of genetic mother family traits. The sperm boy was genetic mother's older brother college roomie, from same Catholic hood growing up. I guess I look pretty much exactly like him. He ran a group of banks in Texasss, so not much similarity there.

[Sirshredalot]

Fuck that noise. Genetics results in minor differences in how neuro transmitters and other chemical signal systems work, but the rest of your personality is pure environment. And I suspect int hose limited areas where genetics plays any role, intraethnic differences are greater than interethnic differences.

The OP is merely trying to assign to one's "Irishness" the fat that you lik ealcohol, which is a common trait among all human ethnic groups. Find an isolated tribe in the amazon and you'll discover they ferment the local fruit one way or another.

I agree with this generally, but I also think that proclivities for addiction and alcoholism must be at least partially heritable.