Studies at the  Minnesota Center for Twin and Family Research suggest that many of our traits are more than 50% inherited, including obedience to authority, vulnerability to stress and risk-seeking. Even in things like religion and politics our choices are much more determined by our genes than we think.

However, in recent years faith in the explanatory power of genes has waned.  Today, few scientists believe there is a simple “gene for  everything”. Almost all inherited features or traits are products of complex interactions of numerous genes and the environment.  Take IQ, which has a hereditabilty of 70% on average.  In the case of students at Harvard, who come from similar, educated, middle class families and have similar upbringings, the environmental upbringing factor is over 90%, the balance being down to genes.  Any change in the environment has a much greater effect on IQ than genes.  If you want to find out if someone believes in god it is more useful to know that they have lived all their lives in Texas than to know the ins and outs of their genes. (The Week)

In my family the males get prostrate cancer, on the dot, in the first three months of their 60th year. This has been so going back as far as I have records to prove it. It’s like a clock. Scary, but at least you can nowadays fix it. However, I have a problem believing that obedience to authority and belief in religion are more than 50% inherited. Or if they are, education and an ability to think for yourself can surely overide it? What do you think?