I took an online test today to see where I lean politically. The results were no big surprise to me. I'm left wing libertarian. Right about where you see The Dalai Lama (ha- comparing myself to The Dalai Lama... I should apologize profusely.)

I had hubby take the test, being fully prepared to see him in the opposite corner from me, or perhaps a bit closer to the middle. I decided that this would make for a fascinating post on genes -vs- environment.

I was raised in a very VERY conservative, ultra-religious, right-wing republican household yet I am so different from my mom and dad.

BJ on the other hand, has parent's who seem to have similar political and socio-economical feelings as me. Even so, I thought he'd end up being more on the right wing-authoritarian side because he seems much more conservative thinking than I am. He's very much a corporate America type of guy, likes Microsoft, and loves wearing a starched white shirt to work. Even better, is when he gets to wear a tie. He's like a kid at Christmas when he gets to wear a tie to work. Me? I'm a free spirit, like to run around barefoot, and love to stop and smell the flowers. I'd feed the whole world if I could afford it.

Well, slap my fanny and call me Sally. He tested out almost exactly where I did. We went over the questions together and talked about our answers. I think we only had differing opinions on three questions, but after debating a bit, I think we both could see why the other person thought the way they did. It was all really a matter of interpretation.

He and I have had several conversations about genes -vs- environment. I can't quite decide which is a bigger factor in someone's development. I have arguments for both sides. My sis is adopted, yet we are very much alike. I'm in some ways I'm like my brother (who has a different father than I do), introspective and have loner tendencies. BJ and I are very much alike in the way we think and the way we react to things, yet we grew up in vastly different environments.

So there's the "bad seed" theory; you know, the serial killers who grew up in a perfectly normal home. That *thing* the thing that made them do these horrible things had to come from somewhere. Were they hard-wired to do this?

Anybody want to chime in on this? My mind still isn't made up.

RisibleGirl was blabbing on about another adventure on 11/14 at 10:11 AM   

R wrote:

This was great, and I can't wait to show B! Thanks for posting the link. I want to say a little bit about nature vs nurture, as I landed between Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama and my mom is a Republican who belongs to a sort of strange Christian religion, but I don't want to fill up your comments space. I'll think and get back to you.
hugs
R

  

wrote:

Sally, come here for your spankin'!!:wink:

  

crazynavyfishgirl wrote:

I wasn't surprised to find myself in that same quadrant as you both, just a little closer to the center. Lots of ways to pigeon hole me: minority-female-military-officer-from-Hawaii-never-married-financially-independent-single-mom-home-owner, dad's family is Buddhist, mom's family is Protestant, yeah, I'm all over the place, but you know just because I'm a moderate doesn't mean I don't believe in it strongly! :wink: But since you asked, there have been multiple studies that show socio-economic attitudes are USUALLY taught by parents as the kids are growing up. There are also other studies that show when a family doesn't pick one religion and run with it, the children usually grow into not very religious (but possibly still strongly spiritual) adults.

  

Jen wrote:

Ha ha ha ha ha! I also had to comment due to the "fanny-sally" sentence. WHY is that so funny? I don't know, but I chortled.

Thanks for your comments!

Jen

  

Melanie wrote:

Hi to another lefty libertarian.

  

grrltraveler wrote:

Ok, it's just a little bit interesting to me that we have ALL fallen into the same
category.... I also am between the Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela! What's up
with that? LOL Anyhow, it's too late for me to add the conversation above, my brain
hasn't had to work in 3 months, I'm not sure I can start now...

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