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.