Nature vs. Nurture vs. Something Else

There is a lot of talk and research into the affect of our DNA vs. the environment on us.

My mother had suffered a trauma in her youth, forced to stay in a mostly solitary hideaway for three years during the holocaust. I grew up in a safe and mostly functional family, yet I feel that some of my behavioral patterns are connected to my mother experiences way before I was born.

I do not suppose I got that through her DNA, yet there was nothing obvious to suggest environmental influence.

Is there any research into such issues? Is this what we are referring to getting some trait from our “mother’s milk?”

There’s not much left after you take out genetics and the environment. The Soviet geneticist Lysenko, who seriously goobered up Soviet agriculture for a few decades, held to the idea that acquired traits could be passed on genetically. But he was never able to demonstrate that (IIRC, he trained worms), and is presently discredited.

I’d suggest that whatever effect your mother’s experiences had on her may have been subtly transmitted to you by her teaching during your development. And your genetic history might have contributed in some way to your being receptive to her input.

Some of the influence you speak of could be from “Nurture” because you learned of your mother’s plight growing up. As Ringo said. Just because you are in a secure environment doesn’t mean that you are not influenced by stories related to you about people you love. Fortunately, neither I nor relatives I know were in the holocaust, but I was raised with frequent reminders of the frailty of our situation. My feelings and attitudes have been influenced by that.

Also, your response to the stories may depend on your “Nature” as well- your siblings may respond differently.

Also, also (:)) there is something called (IIRC) genetic imprinting that involves the transmission of information in a non-genetic manner. The most obvious is orientation of the developing embryo. There was recently a study that showed a correllation between the diet of granparents and the health (I think it was weight or diabetes) of the grandchildren. It was published recently and it was done in one of the northern/western European countries. I’ll look for the reference.
PC

From a page on genetic imprinting:

Interesting page.

I also think that you may not be giving enough credit to the genetic components of your behaviors, or those of your mother. Keep in mind that in the past her own responses and personality were, in some measure, reflections of something in her own genetic code, some of which you share with her. For a wonderful discussion of the richness of human nature, and its genetic roots, see Steven Pinker’s latest - The Blank Slate. This will no doubt help you understand how our lives are very much the DNA mediated echoes of our ancestry.

Poster - just a reminder: correlation does not mean causation.

It needn’t be anything as overt as stories. The most potent forces in a parent’s repertoire are those unspoken reactions: little gasps, tensing up, sudden silence, avoiding certain places or people, unexplained anger, etc. A child’s life is filled with these messages.

DNA has little to do with it. Certain predispositions to or against risk-taking, gregariousness, etc. can be passed on, but it’s how they are shaped by the environment that takes the greater role.

I echo Nametag’s comments. Children can read a lot in the unspoken messages, the body language. Many of these attitudes are conveyed to children in earliest infancy, before age 4 or 5, say. They have to do with basic concepts of what life is all about – the individual vs the group/family, for instance.

don’t want to be argumentative - only informative. I’d suggest that both Dexter and nametag have a good deal to learn about the relative importance of nurture on personality and behavior. Please, at least consult the well-reasoned and well-researched book I referenced. You will no doubt have slightly different views of these matters.

Good point- it’s why I said correlates rather than proves. Though it is a striking coincidence and it would be difficult to hypothesize a genetic cause for it.

I think the Nature vs. Nurture debate is still open. I disagree with Nametag’s statement that “DNA has little to do with it,” I think he and C K Dexter Haven made good points- there’s a lot about Nurture that we don’t fully understand.

And my point is that there’s probably a lot more about NATURE that we don’t fully appreciate. But Pinker does a great service by illuminating much of it.

Pinker’s point, by the way, is that the debate between nature and nurture is largely over, and nature has won.

Just read Pinker. Terrific book, well worth anyone’s time.