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Do Genes Determine Who We Become

There’s a certain belief that biological elements largely make up our daily actions and our way of thinking, but there are some who believe in free will. More often than not, we’d love to think that our choices are based on our own thoughts, feelings and other deliberations.

Is the term “thinking things over” just an unimportant precursor leading to the final decision, which depends on what kind of genes we have? Are genes basically the end-all factor that determine how your life will be played out from beginning to end?

Nature vs Nurture

In the early 20th century, man came upon the idea that nature was in fact the driver of a man’s destiny, and that our genes dictate a person’s behavior and future actions all throughout his or her natural life. On the other hand, some people believed that nurture, or a set of environmental factors such as family, location and life circumstances dictate a person’s behavior and actions.

Nature versus nurture became so popular that a study was made for it. Researchers chose identical twins as they both came from one egg and a single sperm from which a zygote was formed and split into 2 similar embryos. Researchers had proof that in testing identical twins they could observe two separate individuals who shared the same genes.

The Two Jims

The Two Jims became the template of what would happen if identical twins were separated at birth. James Lewis and James Springer were twins who were separated when they were one month old. Two different families adopted each Jim, lived out their lives and met each other again when they were 39 years old. When they met, similarities started becoming obvious.

Both Jims have married a woman named Linda, divorced her and remarried a woman whose name was Betty. They both loved carpentry and mechanical drawing. During their youths, both Jims loved math and hated spelling. Moreover, the twins drove Chevrolet cars, had a mannerism of biting their nails, smoked the same brand of cigarettes and suffered from tension migraines. Suffice to say, the similarities were eerily uncanny.

Other scientific studies indicate that about 50 percent of all our traits are inherited, including risk-seeking, stress vulnerability and obedience to authority. In more concrete matters such as politics and religion, our genes largely dictate our thinking, choice and action.

But here’s where it gets interesting. Genetics largely plays a role in which traits you’ll inherit. Your DNA isn’t just a bunch of codes; it accurately tells you who you are and who you’ll be in the future. You can make use of a discount code online to determine what exactly your DNA can do for you and gain an understanding of your family history. More importantly, genetic testing can determine your health condition and future health risks.

Keep in mind that studies are not always conclusive. There are still the external factors, i.e., environment, upbringing, etc. that can make an impact on one’s personality. An individual raised in a family who eats meat, practices a specific religion and participates on extra-curricular school activities will be very different from one who’s raised by a family who eats vegan, follows another kind of religion and keeps indoors. Bottom line is that nurture and nature play a hand in an individual’s upbringing, with neither one having the upper hand in shaping who we are.