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OP seems unaware that it has been shown that changes in behavior patterns can lead to structural brain changes over time.
For example, in alcoholics, the structure of the brain changes with respect to that addiction.
Similarly, choices or influences made early in life can lead to differing patterns of brain development during maturation.
So no, everything you are physically (meaning the physical structure of your brain) was not determined by genetics. Environment and behaviors play a factor.
Do you assume there is no genetic tendency toward becoming an alcoholic?
From what I've read, studies of identical twins raised apart show remarkable similarity. There are differences of course, but such twins turn out to be far more similar to each other in their interests, preferences, life choices, IQ level, etc. than they are to their adoptive siblings.
I was trying to make the opposite point. The Hensel Conjoined Identical Twins share the SAME body, grew up in the identical environment and had to actually work together to make their body work. Identical Twins are closer in genetic material than Clones would be. Their brains actually started out as a single brain that separated, but the separation stopped after the neck. Yet they have two distinct personalities, and in many ways are quite different from each other while sharing the exact same body.
If the OPs premise were correct, then the Hensel Twins should have exact personalities too rather than being two separate individuals because we have two brains sharing one body in the exact same life experiences and same environment.
[quote=Mydreams;45807504]Everything you are as a person right now. I'm not talking about your choices, lifestyle, decision, hobbies, and all the crap that you do everyday that you think makes you special, etc. I'm talking about YOU. What you are as a human being, physically and mentally. Many people are under the misconception that personality and anything regarding behavior is something ethereal and not physical. You are wrong.
Everything you consider "the inside" is nothing more than a byproduct of your brain, which is made of physical parts and components, which are 100% determined by your genetics. There is very little to nothing you can do to change how your brain is wired and how it operates. Your personality, character, temperament, inhibition or desinhibition, extroversion, introversion, intelligence, talents, etc, are mostly determined by how your brain is made.
Every single part about your physical appearance is determined by your genetics. Height, body shape, muscle shape, fat shape, skin color, hair color, facial hair, body hair, bone size, face, organs, how your body is wired and how every single part inside of you is made. Everything. It determines if you will suffer from health problems, how long you will live, how fast or slow you will age, if you will develop cancer or not, etc. There is very little you can do to alter these things.
Of course, humans will always refuse to accept this, because it leave them hopeless and powerless.
Humans will always put people with good genetics, which includes looks, talent and emotional aspects on a pedestal. This has happened since the history of mankind. We always look up to those are better than us.
Equally, we put down those who want to better themselves and who try to achieve what the people won the genetic lottery have. Example, such as plastic surgery and many other. It may be a form of jealousy and wanting to keep others down where you are.[/QUOTe
One's physical appearance is affected by many things other than heredity. Nutrition is a good example. Poor nutrition keeps people from reaching their fullest possible height, for instance. There is also growing awareness of how certain chemicals in our food supply affect people's physical development.
Other environmental factors also affect people. A child who receives nurture and stimulation will probably be smarter than a child raised without. And early environment also influences what choices people make throughout their lives.
We all know people who have practiced bad habits such as smoking or heavy drinking. These people always age faster than those who practice moderation. And some life shortening conditions, such as aneurysms, which would shorten lives can now be corrected, so that life is extended.
In life there are no simple answers. And people do make life changing choices. Heredity is not destiny. I do agree that heredity is a powerful influence.
Do you assume there is no genetic tendency toward becoming an alcoholic?
There may very well be, but not everyone with a genetic tendency towards something manifests that in their life. For those that do not, the physical structure of their brain is different.
You can't say everything about the way you are is in your genes when genes are sometimes selectively expressed based on environmental factors (or even different foods).
You can't say everything about the way you are is in your genes when genes are sometimes selectively expressed based on environmental factors (or even different foods).
True. I don't generally eat that much, but when I touch a cookie I turn into a monster.
Agree on physically we are mainly determined by genes. As for how our brains are wired certainly involves other factors such as environment and circumstances.
Last edited by softcrunch; 12-01-2016 at 08:42 AM..
YES.. If someone is gonna be GAY for example it is determined @ birth........ No one can make anyone choose one or the other.... AS THEY GET OLDER THEY REALISE WHAT THEY PREFER!!
This is eagerly a misleading example. Your genitalia is determined at birth, someone gonna be gay is not. Your sexual preference is not wired in your brain @ birth. As they get older they decide their choice of preference.
This is eagerly a misleading example. Your genitalia is determined at birth, someone gonna be gay is not. Your sexual preference is not wired in your brain @ birth. As they get older they decide their choice of preference.
We are the sum total of our experiences. No matter what the genetic predisposition may be, we are what we experience. This relates only to relative reality however.
May as well confuse everyone w/ this.....in Zen, the aim is to understand what we are before thinking. Before thought, who are we? Or rather, what are we? We really are not what or who we think we are. That's all programming, a false construct. In meditation, chanting, mindfulness practice, we focus on our breath, and as thoughts come up we notice them and then go back to our breath. This is what the Buddha did to become enlightenment. It takes as long as it takes.
We are all naturally a Buddha (which simply means awakened to reality), already enlightenment, but our "self", our programmed ego, prevents us from knowing that. The practices I described open the door for enlightenment, and at that point, well, I would be wasting my time to try and describe it. In essence we are one w/ EVERYTHING, we are everything, the sun, the stars, the dead bug, the grass, you, me, etc. We are all that all the time, but w/o enlightenment we do not see it. The self keeps us busy w/ it's likes, it's dislikes, it's emotions, etc because it seeks permanence in an impermanent universe. It does this because it really doesn't exist, it is like a computer software program that is simply running all the time, except in meditation, and we mistake the programming for the actual person, for ourselves . We all will be born, live, and die. Our body will die, our brain and all our thoughts and memories will disappear, yet no one is ever born and no one ever dies. Everything is changing all the time.
Impossible to understand conceptually, it must be experienced in enlightenment, then we know. If it sounds like double talk, that's because it cannot be understood from thinking. Thinking is the problem, at least w/ this. If someone had never seen an apple I could describe what an apple is for a thousand years and they would still not know what an apple is no matter how many books I wrote or how many lectures I gave. Or, I could simply hand them an apple and let them eat it. Then they know.....apple.
Last edited by smarino; 12-03-2016 at 12:25 PM..
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