are likes and dislikes passed down.....

[mstag]

I was just wondering , if im into knife collecting and the outdoors, the rolling stones and art. if i had a child would my likes be passed down thru dna ??? I know if your an alcoholic that can be passed down...but what if you were an art collector?

 

[Esav Benyamin]

Not even alcoholism is necessarily genetic. Everything else you mentioned is basically cultural. There may be some neural connectivity involved in some modes of appreciation which would have a genetic base. So someone interested in art might have a child interested in maps, or an outdoorsman might raise a gardener.

 

[FoxholeAtheist]

The inheritance of aquired characteristics is commonly referred to as "Lysenkoism" after one of its staunch supporters, and is now known to be pretty much total crap. Lysenkoism had a very bad effect on Soviet agriculture.

http://skepdic.com/lysenko.html

 

[RunsWithKnives]

I agree with most of this, but separated identical twins studies have found similar likes and dislikes. I think genetic loading probably accounts for more than we want to admit or have discovered yet.

 

[Grover_Cephas]

I have a _big_ problem with the "alocholism is hereditary" line that AA pushes (and with a lot of the dubious assumptions AA's based on). Is it possible that genetics might make you slightly predisposed to like Hot Rocks or binge drinking? Sure! But I'd be willing to bet that your experiences _after_ Mr. Sperm meets Ms. Egg are a lot more important.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

The inheritance of acquired characteristics is commonly referred to as Lamarckism. Charles Darwin himself considered it a possible element in providing the raw material for natural selection to work on, since genetics hadn't been developed yet.

Lysenko convinced Stalin that using Lamarckist principles could lead to faster adaptation of plants to harsh climates, which was obviously a tempting thought in Russia. It probably did less harm than Khrushchev's Virgin Lands project, draining the minimal Central Asian watercourses to grow cotton in an inhospitable desert. But Stalin was a "bad" Russian and Khrushchev was a "good" Russian, so Lysenko gets the blame.

 

[FoxholeAtheist]

Doh!

Lamarckism is right. I was too focused on Lysenko as an example.

:footinmou

 

[Steve Hayden]

F.A. the link you provided above is a little off the money on Lamarckian theory. Lamarck's idea was that the giraffes would stretch their necks reaching for the high leaves and then the longer necks would be passed on genetically, i.e. the passing on of acquired traits.