You already know that your ancestors contributed to how you look. Did you know that they also might have contributed to how you act? This is the classic debate of nature vs. nurture. How much of who we are is determined by our ancestry, and how much is determined by our environment? The debate has been going on for a long time, and there is still no clear winner.
I began to wonder about the impact of heredity on personality a couple of weeks ago. One day, I noticed that my son does the same thing that I do when he is concentrating really hard – he sticks out his tongue just a little bit. I call it the “tongue of concentration”, and I wonder why he does it. In fact, I wonder why I do it. It is just something that I have always done, without ever thinking about it or intending to do it.
The “tongue of concentration” is not something that I learned from my mother, or from my father, because neither of them do it. I am fairly certain that my son did not learn it from me because during the short time that we have known each other, I have not concentrated on anything so intensely that my tongue stuck out. Since I was curious about whether anyone else in my family had the “tongue of concentration”, I asked my dad. The only person that he knows of is his older brother, my uncle. I never saw him display the “tongue of concentration”, but my dad did. It is possible that the “tongue of concentration” is a trait that has been passed down through our family tree. We will never know for sure, though, and even with all that is known about genetics today, the debate of nature vs. nurture is still ongoing.
It is important to keep in mind that while it is fun to think about how much of a person’s personality is determined by heredity and how much is determined by environment, we each are ultimately responsible for our behavior and our choices. If there are “bad apples” in your family tree, do not despair. Your ancestors’ actions do not determine your destiny, you do. Science has shown that the behaviors that pass from generation to generation are more often harmless quirks like the “tongue of concentration” than destructive tendencies like a propensity for robbing banks. Do be aware, though, that mental illnesses have been shown to run in families. If you discover patterns of mental illness while researching your family history, you may want to discuss it with your doctor.