In favour of the death penalty?
June 18, 2001 1:49 AM Subscribe
In favour of the death penalty? Don't worry, it's in the genes
Some questions left unanswered by the story: Identical or fraternal twins? Both? Male and female fraternal? What was done to eliminate identity-creating reactionism, in which a twin takes an opposing viewpoint or attitude in order to create individuality?
posted by Mo Nickels at 5:07 AM on June 18, 2001
posted by Mo Nickels at 5:07 AM on June 18, 2001
Let me get this straight.
Top five attitudes with genetic connection:
-- Reading books
-- Abortion
-- Playing sports
-- Rollercoaster rides
-- Death penalty for murder
Top four attitudes without genetic connection:
-- Separate roles for men and women
-- Playing bingo
-- Easy access to birth control
-- Being assertive
Oh. OK. It's all as clear as glass.
posted by bilco at 5:35 AM on June 18, 2001
Top five attitudes with genetic connection:
-- Reading books
-- Abortion
-- Playing sports
-- Rollercoaster rides
-- Death penalty for murder
Top four attitudes without genetic connection:
-- Separate roles for men and women
-- Playing bingo
-- Easy access to birth control
-- Being assertive
Oh. OK. It's all as clear as glass.
posted by bilco at 5:35 AM on June 18, 2001
Umm.. I may be oldschool in my sociology studies, but isn't it concievable that parental influence may have quite a bit to do with the formation of opinions and preferences?
Next time, please have these guys pay me for a study. I've got a few hours to waste, and a wacky concept to forward..
posted by Perigee at 6:35 AM on June 18, 2001
Next time, please have these guys pay me for a study. I've got a few hours to waste, and a wacky concept to forward..
posted by Perigee at 6:35 AM on June 18, 2001
when i took sociobiology, the main schtick seemed to be that genetic--"innate"--behaviors were more along the lines of "people exhibit sexual attraction towards something" or "people eat every now and then." and even then, it's very difficult to demonstrate in humans. in some animals, it's a little clearer. sparrows, i believe, have this thing about red feathers: they attack on site. it has to do with some red tufted bird, but anything red usually works at bringing out the aggression of the sparrow.
the "twins" study they site seems pretty vague. most successful twins studies along this line involve people who have been seperated for most of their lives, but that is not mentioned here--if these twins in fact lived together for most of their lives, it's quite possible similar environmental pressures produced similar attitudes. still, i'm a pretty firm believer that genetics do play a role; it's just a really, really complex one, and you simply can't say "well, if you switch this gene here, you suddenly are in favor of the death penalty." it just doesn't work that way.
posted by moz at 8:07 AM on June 18, 2001
the "twins" study they site seems pretty vague. most successful twins studies along this line involve people who have been seperated for most of their lives, but that is not mentioned here--if these twins in fact lived together for most of their lives, it's quite possible similar environmental pressures produced similar attitudes. still, i'm a pretty firm believer that genetics do play a role; it's just a really, really complex one, and you simply can't say "well, if you switch this gene here, you suddenly are in favor of the death penalty." it just doesn't work that way.
posted by moz at 8:07 AM on June 18, 2001
skallas: The last paragraph is the best I've read all month. Thanks. Just correct the "its" and you have a masterpiece. And it probably has nothing to do with genetics.
posted by raysmj at 10:53 AM on June 18, 2001
posted by raysmj at 10:53 AM on June 18, 2001
Just to add to skallas' excellent comment:
Surveys finding statistical regularities among identical twins separated at birth are not worth very much if there is no causal explanation. We are very far away from being able to trace *how* a particular allele somewhere in the genome might influence anybody's attitude towards the death penalty. And I am willing to bet that whatever causality exists will not be linear and involving just one factor. (Not to mention the fact that, though people have probably been killed in every human society, not every human society has an institution known as the death penalty.
posted by Rebis at 11:13 AM on June 18, 2001
Surveys finding statistical regularities among identical twins separated at birth are not worth very much if there is no causal explanation. We are very far away from being able to trace *how* a particular allele somewhere in the genome might influence anybody's attitude towards the death penalty. And I am willing to bet that whatever causality exists will not be linear and involving just one factor. (Not to mention the fact that, though people have probably been killed in every human society, not every human society has an institution known as the death penalty.
posted by Rebis at 11:13 AM on June 18, 2001
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Genetic makeup: lipstick that stays on.
Anyway, parties that live by poll results would do well to watch this and similar research. You may be (if the researchers are right) born with attitudes that will make you right wing or left wing. Party X is for position Y, person Z is born with a similar attitude toward position Y, so person Z will consistently vote for party X candidates starting a couple of decades later.
posted by pracowity at 2:54 AM on June 18, 2001