How you can develop your character! Practise handling your emotions, so that they don't get in the way of embracing knowledge, statistics and science

Yesterday I refreshed my understanding of heredity and heritability. Two concepts that are often blended and create confusion about heredity.

I have had this idea of sharing stuff that I believe needs to be shared, so that people get new thought processes. Because I believe that are many things that is seen in a different way, than it really is. My lack of time has resulted in this taking a while, I still have the idea with me.

I want to create a better world, where people are able to take on ideas and science, which goes against what they believe now. Most of us have flawed thinking and understanding, it’s a human thing. I realize that myself every day.

I read this book Quirkology that tells about interesting and fun experiments in social psychology, the world doesn’t function as you think!

So, about heredity and heritability. Heredity is the genes that we get biologically from our parents and much longer back in our family line. Heritability is the measure of the genetic influences on a trait in a population.

An example. Humans are born with 2 arms, that is based on our genetical development. The heritability of having no arms at all is 0, because it’s always environmental factors that make people lose their arms, accidents and diseases.

The level of heritability is different for all outcomes in people, some less, some more. Here comes the influence of epigenetics in place. We can’t separate heritability and environment, they influence each other.

There are some outcomes that have a strong heritability, 80-90%, like length, certain diseases and intelligence for example. This doesn’t mean that environmental factors can have a strong influence, they can actually have.

The same is true the other way around, some people can manage in any environment, while others easily develop symptoms and diagnoses in the same environment, because of their genetical structure.

Some children can be saved from mental disorders by being raised in a good environment.

While others just can’t increase their knowledge and intelligence in a good environment, because they are not predisposed to do that. They then have to find their own thing, where they can excel. Some things you can’t force.

Much is being talked about giving the resources to those who needs them. There have also been an interest to get children to read, and the idea is to surround them with books and then they will learn and get interested.

I would like it to be more “scientific” than that, because based on natural distribution, the trait open to experience is on different levels for people. And this trait will help for book interest.

This goes both ways, your level of openness and intelligence will influence your interest in books, and books will also help you develop these traits in you as a kid.

About giving resources to those who need them to flourish, not all kids want or need books. Give it to them who have the most need for them, the question is how to decide that? Because in other areas we can very well decide who needs extra help and encouragement, so why not in this area too?

Otherwise, it’s just an experiment of giving all the same resources and seeing what happens. And those who don’t fit in, either react with resistance and anger or fade away in silence.

I realize that this is not easy or pleasant. It doesn’t go well with politics and societal discussion, I personally don’t think that science and politics go well together, people just use what they like to drive their own agenda, no matter the quality of science or quality of ideas.

I’m an optimistic person and I have also learned to update my understanding of the world, when I get exposed to new ideas. I have also learned that it’s good to look behind the information and study people to see where they come from. It’s actually beautiful that we can choose who we are based on how we see the world.

If you would like to discuss how we can increase personal knowledge and scientific thinking and break free from group thinking and societal pressure on what to think and how to behave, please reach out and we can develop together.