Do you think people inherit bad or good behavior?

Denver, Colorado
December 29, 2011 3:03pm CST
I have heard so many people excuse their behavior as being something they inherited. Give me a break, you might have gotten it from being taught certain things when you were a child or watched your family do it, but you didn't inherit it in my mind. I hear people say "I have an Irish temper." OMG, that is just a lie, you have a temper because you choose to have one. "I have an English dry sense of humor", "I'm bull headed because I'm German", and so forth. I just don't believe that is the case. You may have become accustomed to members of your family who have made excuses for their behavior and blamed it on their ancestry, but really?? You don't hear people attribute good things very often to their ancestry, only the bad behavior. What do you think? What did you inherit that you think is because of ancestry? Or did you? Please tell me the good behaviors you inherited, not just the bad ones.
1 person likes this
7 responses
@Kalyni2011 (3496)
• India
1 Jan 12
Well sister I think we inherit both of these, but we acquire many good as well as bad behavior here from the neighbours, the surroundings and family members; the relatives and friends with whom we mix.. Happy posting, cheers. Kalyani
• Denver, Colorado
1 Jan 12
Thanks for the response. I do know situations where I feel neighbors have caused bad behavior to happen because of their behavior. Very sad, but it does happen. I pray people could learn to think about their behavior before they do it, much of the bad could be avoided.
• Indonesia
30 Dec 11
Although people has tendencies to follow their basic behavior either good or bad, I much more believe that environment have more influence to people behavior. Many people have low mental strength. So when other influence them, they will follow. Why they choose to follow such common term (as your example), because they are not strong enough to express what they are, what their uniqueness. I am not sure regarding my inherited behavior. I always choose what I think is good. Although it might spark fire with other. (That behavior is contrary from the common thing in my society)
• Denver, Colorado
31 Dec 11
In America, we call it peer pressure when a person allows himself to be lead to practice a behavior because his friends approval is important to him regardless of whether that behavior is considered bad or not. He stills makes a choice to do it. Learning to do the right thing is the key in my mind. Right being the keyword in that phrase and right by whose standard. There has always been things that society thinks is fine, and I disagree with society. I am not a loud, boisterous, flamboyant person and I do not normally choose to be around people who behave that way, but society does more than often accept it as an agreeable behavior. It is not truly wrong per society, but per me it is offensive behavior. Environment is always an influence over a person, but if it is a bad influence in most cases it can be overcome unless there truly is something physically defective with the person.
@mr_pearl (5018)
• India
30 Dec 11
Hi... It is not really in the blood... It depends upon things like where you are brought up, the way people around you behaved, locality etc... A person born and brought up in a royal family has ceremonious and courteous behavior... Behavior depends upon how you have been brought up...
• Denver, Colorado
30 Dec 11
Thanks for your response. You are saying that it is a learned response from environment, family, situations, and the list goes on. However, I'm saying regardless of those things the person chooses how they wish to behave. It is not inherited. There are types of behavior as I have said before that accompany certain disorders that are physical and/or mental, and even those can be controlled to a degree, and when they cannot be, those are the people that many times spend their lives incarcerated in prison or a mental institution. Anyone has the opportunity to overcome the environment in which they were raised, it is their choice whether they do or do not. Parents can raise a child to be courteous, but the child when grown can choice not to be courteous.
@dawnald (85129)
• Shingle Springs, California
30 Dec 11
I think that people's behavior is influenced by their upbringing, and that they sometimes do things without realizing that they do it, but once they are made aware that a certain type of behavior is a problem, continuing to do so is a choice. They may need help to change it, ie anger management or something, but it is a choice.
• Denver, Colorado
30 Dec 11
I agree and for them to excuse it due to some inheritance they think they have is just plum crazy. There are so many things that people have said they inherited and can do nothing about and usually, they can choose to change.
@Bellapop (1279)
30 Dec 11
I think it's a bit of everything - you inherit certain traits but may not necessary exhibit them - but you have a higher chance of it, depending on the circumstances and the environment in which you are bred. Many behaviours can be taught but our state of health and genetic factors do determine whether someone has a higher chance of doing something in particular. It's a very debatable topic - from my own experience, I have done some particularly unusual things which I found out only recently that my parents did exactly the same when they were younger - this is the genetic factor. There have many things that I have done and particular habits that are the complete opposite to my parents, brothers and sisters which would set me apart as to the possibility that we couldn't be possibly related (possibly environmental factors). Then there is also a lot of things that I have been able to do that i was not able to do before, the condition that i am now, is due to the fact that I have improved my overall health - this is the 'state of health'/environmental factor too. As with bad behaviour, i think this is a combination of genetics, environmental and state of health. The way you have been taught to judge and make choices is important, your state of health will affect you, genetics would probably play a smaller part.
@BLTLife (337)
• United States
29 Dec 11
You can't inherit behavior. That is ridiculous. But you CAN inherit attitudes and thought processes. I find it funny that we can accept that certain races are different on the outside but not on the inside. Genes don't only govern how we look. But how we act also. Not to say that people of one race are all the same or anything like that.
• Denver, Colorado
29 Dec 11
One of the things I've heard, bipolar, ADD and ADHD which are identified most frequently with behavior, are most frequently inherited. The genes have changed from the source and passed on. I tend not to believe it is one race or the other, but the individual make-up of person can be somewhat inherited, but as a person, we can choose what behaviors we will practice and most of them can be unlearned good or bad. What will be interesting is when scientists do enough research to determine the cause behind the change in the genes.
@katsmeow1213 (28719)
• United States
29 Dec 11
I think certain traits can be inherited. Italians have really bad tempers, from what I've seen, as do latinos. Asians seem to be better students and study/work harder that most other nationalities. I don't have a specific nationality so nothing to blame my traits on.. although I do claim my stubborness comes from being a Taurus.
• Denver, Colorado
29 Dec 11
lol.....yep, I've heard people blame their traits on the Zodiac too. Personally, I believe we can overcome any bad behavior IF we want to, unless there is a medical reason for it like a brain tumor or dysfunction of the brain. May take a lot of effort when we are around others who continue the behavior but I've seen people do it.