Tendency to Cheat Might Be Hereditary

[Seraphim]

It may or may not be. Although something is rarely entirely all nurture nor all genetic. Things can be a combination of both and usually are, it is what you do about it that matters.

[Glowguy]

Interesting article, but Finch behavior is a far cry from human behavior. I think you can argue that there is genetic component to almost everything. I would like to see the actual results of the study.

[FathomFear]

It's all about how we define cheating and pre depositions. to me, alcoholism is not a DNA pre deposition, it's a behavioral pre deposition.

 

Again, this is a false dichotomy. The point is that behavioral predispositions may potentially have a genetic basis. In other words, people with specific genes may have much more difficulty avoiding alcoholism due to how their body reacts/craves alcohol.

 

Our behaviors are very much linked to our physicality. For example, deciding whether to eat brocolli or chocolate cake is 100% choice. That doesn't mean, however, that one option isn't much more highly desirable because of the physical makeup of our body and how we react tp and crave food.

 

To reiterate, I'm not saying that if such genes exist in the case of cheating that such people would get a free pass or not be held accountable for their actions. If someone had a genetic feature which made cheating much more desiriable/tempting, I would still expect that person to make the right decision. It just means I would also acknowledge that they have it tougher than those who don't have the same makeup.

[Seraphim]

I agree, everything is not totally nurture. It is a combination of nurture AND genetics. When people get double hit with bad nurturing and a genetic predisposition to something it will be harder for them to climb out of the situation. Does it make it right what they did? Nope. Everything though is not as black and white as we want to believe.For instance, my son has this hand movement of bringing his hand up to his face sometimes when he smiles. When he first started doing this he was about 2 and I got an instant flash back of my grandmother. She used to do this when she was shy. Now my son has NEVER met my grandmother because she died 17 years before he was born. No one else in the family does this. Genetics can be just as powerful as nurture(environment).