There is a lot being done in the medical field to help patients understand their genetic predisposition toward certain ailments. Isn’t the same true for spiritual ailments? Don’t we inherit some of these same tendencies from our parents and their parents and so on?
Anyone who’s been to a family reunion has surely noticed that even if we have been apart for a long time, when we get together, we notice our similar traits. Are those commonalities due to nature or nurture? Truth be told, probably both, but it has been proven that many criminal behaviors, such as violence, are influenced by genetics. Are other sins and personality traits also hereditary? Here are a few to consider (think of your own family or your spouse’s):
- Naivete, gullability
- Passive-aggressive behavior, being a martyr
- Being self-absorbed
- Holding grudges
- Over-intellectualizing
- Rationalizing
- Laziness
- Addictions
- Sarcasm and criticism
- Melodramatic outbursts
- Gluttony
- Being passive or indecisive
- Anger issues
- Permissiveness
- Cheating at cards - you people know who you are
- Pyromania
Here’s a case study. A good friend of ours got arrested once for shoplifting. He was just a kid at the time and was really upset while they were booking him. He begged them not to tell his mom. One of the officers rolled his eyes at this, and they all thought this was hilarious. As it turned out, his mom was regularly picked up for shoplifting. Coincidence?
So, what’s the point of all this navel-gazing? What is to be gained from considering our familial weaknesses?
Learn from their mistakes. Sometimes you have to know the good, the bad, and the ugly to make use of the lesson. Frankly, white-washed journals just don’t cut it in my book. I’d like to know who these people really were. Warts and all. Because I can probably relate. But that’s just me.- Self-knowledge, understand our own motivations. It can help you to know that you really do have a lot in common with these people. Despite all evidence (or wishful thinking) to the contrary.
- Be a better parent. Do any of you ever feel like you are raising one of your parents (because one of your kids is just like one of your parents)? I have had that feeling.
- Marry wisely. Maybe you need to marry someone with similar flaws so you can relate.
- Mix up that gene pool. Or perhaps its time to bust out of that familial rut and mix your angry genes with some passive genes or your skeptical genes with some gullible genes.
As the saying goes, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. So, do you think the sins we have to work through in life are influenced by genetic factors? Is this one of the untapped benefits of genealogy? What traits do you think you got from your family that you are hoping you didn’t pass on? Do you think about your family traits this way? Discuss.
From personal experience I know that there is very little to be gained from the primacy of nature or nurture as the determining factor in who we become. Our most important consideration should always be agency. I think there is value in knowing the good and bad traits of our ancestors but placing importance on such traits is dangerous. People in society today often search to find explanations for why they behave in certain ways. The pursuit of scientific or psychological rationales for behavior is too often used by people who want to minimize their own responsibility. There is one person and one person alone who is responsible for the people we become as adults. Rather than looking to external influences for behavioral scape goating we should be more inward focused. Not on our genes or on our psyche but on our willingness to own up to our own choices. Who we are is who we choose to be. The formula is no more complicated than that. I am the son of a drug dealer and a prostitute. What does that say about my choices? It says nothing. My actions, choices and values define who I am and I am responsible for those traits.
Hawk,
You’re on to something. Alcoholism ran rampant in my family a couple of generations back, and I have read studies which link the predisposition to become addicted to alcohol with a gene which rids the body of certain vitamins (like B12) more quickly than would be healthy. Supposedly alcohol mimics the presence of B12 making the person “feel complete.”
I have very little info other than that, but it stands to reason that there are genetic predispositions to all sorts of things, including short tempers and religious belief (can I blame my Swedish or Scottish ancestors for my skepticism, for instance?)
As James says, however, predispositions are simply that. We have choices to make in regards to our behavior, and as I’ve never knowingly drunk alcohol, I’ve avoided that particular genetic trap.
I think it is best when we recognize that everyone has their own set of predispositions, with increased or decreased liabilities for certain behaviors we don’t have. It seems more charitable somehow than patting ourselves on the back or excoriating others for the way their lives turn out.
People will live up to the high expectations we have of them. In identifying the predispositions in Hawk’s posting I think we need to be careful not to be guilty of what has been called “the soft bigotry of low expectations.” Communicating that great successes and unlimited potential are not limited by genetics or upbringing is the message of hope and promise that every member needs to hear. It is essential not to set artificial limits on people that may make them inclined to belive that their potential is limited by factors outside of their control.
James - that’s a good point for other genetic factors as well. It’s unwise to think “hey, my whole family is fat, so I guess I’ll have that second donut” or “everyone in my family dies of a heart attack, so no need to go jogging.” But knowing those predispositions can help you be vigilant for the right things.
Of course, most of the things I listed above are not necessarily sins in and of themselves, just personality traits that give sin a specific flavor. We are all prone to sin, and all must overcome it.
I just read a fascinating book “The Agile Gene - how nature turns on nurture”. Basically it debunks the nature versus nurture theory. It says our genes are very adaptable, and respond to our environment (ie nurture) in ways that modify and adapt the genes. There is plenty of evidence now to show that the human genome is not cast in stone. If you believe in free agency (I do - some people are more skeptical about this) - then the adaptability of genes to environment is stunning news - we really do have more control over how we turn out and how our lives are lived than we perhaps have realized. I agree very much with James that we are not predestined but have choices to make that can truly be life altering. I find this a tremendously liberating notion - and completely in line with transforming ourselves towards becoming more Christlike.
However, you are also right, Hawkrrrl, in that we ARE born with very strongly inherited predispositions towards certain tendencies (they have proved this over and over with twin studies). It takes a lifetime and longer for us to identify these tendencies and learn to control and modify them for the benefit of ourselves and others.
If there is one thing that studying the brain has taught me it is that we are more than our biology. The brain is plastic and can be molded to overcome any weaknesses with work and support. Neural connections that don’t form normally in anxiety or depression or whatever can be “rewired” by our own conscious effort and study.
One small quibble, I think you meant that criminal behaviors such as violence have genetic influence, not origin. Looking at the context origin doesn’t fit and it is probably no big deal but I just can’t seem to let it stand. Forgive me, perhaps annoyingly correcting others is my own gene influenced weakness.
#3: “People will live up to the high expectations we have of them.”
Make sure that you know whether these high expectations are something these people will naturally have a difficult time with. If they are, you and they may be better off focusing on working around issues than just sitting around expecting.
I love to have high expectations, and in general I think it’s sufficient. Where I’ve found it’s not (so far) is in specific, genetically influenced tendencies some of my children have that go way up the family tree. My wife and I have discovered that it’s best to help our children understand their inherent weaknesses, help them forgive themselves for them, and teach them how to cope.
These specific difficulties have names, diagnostic criteria, spectra (including “clinical” ends, which we thankfully have only one instance of) and neurological explanations. This has been a huge help in devising new workarounds and coping strategies, planning meals (turns out poultry and peanut butter are very, very good for us), and predicting and explaining behavior. My kids will know themselves and how to handle themselves better than we ever did, and for that we’re very grateful.
As long as I’m posting anonymously, I might as well name these difficulties: anxiety and ADHD. The latter is responsible for most of the anger issues, gluttony, laziness, and addiction on one side of my family. It stops at this generation, because I know what it is.
“People will live up to the high expectations we have of them.”
. . . or they will crash and burn if those expectations are unrealistic and they realize they can’t live up to them. I know too many kids who thought they had to be perfect (meaning never make a mistake) in order to please their parents (Mormon and non-Mormon alike) and ended up with serious emotional issues to agree 100% with such a generalization. “High expectations” are one thing; unrealistic expectations are quite another. People need to understand grace and mercy as well as expectations; forget about one, and the result of the other in isolation can be horrible.
Don’t we inherit some of these same tendencies from our parents and their parents and so on?
Along with considering the genetics of sin, perhaps, OTOH the overly developed sense of duty is passed along in LDS families. Those who felt a need to stick with something until it was done were likely to have stayed with the church during the pioneering era and passed that ‘compulsivity’ down to their children…or nurtured it by dragging their kids along to church and service projects. This generally is not a bad character trait, IMO, as it also leads to finishing school, frequently in an overachieving style, and developing a successful career. Cognitive dissonance may occur less frequently because other priorities take the available leftover personal time.
That predispostion leads to a challenging conflict with the inevitable “black sheep” that creep up in a family who happen to see things differently. My Aunt was invited to our family Thanksgiving dinner year after year and would bring her children, grand-children, and great-grandchildren, over different years, who demonstrated multiple generations of broken homes. Their trials reinforced to me (as a teenager) the blessings I perceived of being in a stable home where parents honored their duty as a parent.
Going back to the genetic of sin, however, is the tendency that comes with the overly developed sense of duty: the desire to keep your sinful tendencies hidden. The risks to serving two masters are grave and keeping up appearances while secretly sinning takes one down a dangerous path.
#3: I’ve also been reading quite a bit about the brain and the concept of “neuroplasticity”, which I think is one of the most exciting fields of study around today. A couple of great books on the subject are “The Mind and the Brain” and “The Brain that Changes Itself”. There’s also a slew of information at http://www.sharpbrains.com. The main thing is that the deterministic view which had a stranglehold on the behavioral sciences is dead and buried–and good riddance.
Doc - Thanks for the catch. I’ll fix that wording. I suppose I sounded more like a defense attorney than a doctor.
Rigel - “overly developed sense of duty is passed along in LDS families” I think this is an interesting idea, too. I don’t have pioneer ancestry, but I have heard how these stories get told and retold until they are no longer human beings and anyone with a remotely sinful thought is not worthy of the legacy of these giants. I think it’s interesting to ask ourselves what traits those early convert ancestors had, aside from being courageous and committed. Did they also have a hint of attachment disorder (willing to leave family behind)? Were they courageous or stubborn (probably both)? Did they have a tendency to always think they were right? Yes, they made sacrifices, but were they in desperate circumstances? My point is not to belittle the achievements of our ancestors, but to bring them to life in a way that is useful to me personally, to help me be a better person, not through inspiration based on fictionalized legends but through understanding real human nature in a deeper way.
Anonymous - “It stops at this generation, because I know what it is.” Exactly! Thanks for your comment.