Your Destiny is in Your Genes

For John, BLUF:  "What a revoltin' development this is!"  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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From the web presence Quillette we have Professor Brian Boutwell (Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Saint Louis University, a Jesuit Institution) explaining "Why parenting may not matter and why most social science research is probably wrong".

In sum, it is a lot more genetics than it is parenting.  That is both a relief and a concern.  Those kids turned out the way they did due to genetics, not due to how I raised them.  This appears to turn a lot of things upside down.  But, first we have a question.

Since the author doesn't understand religion

The are many reasons, some of which are explicitly religious (the whole “spare the rod spoil the child” bit)...

why do we think he understands anything else?

Yes, the line spare the rod and spoil the child is in the Bible, Proverbs 13:24:

He that spareth the rod hateth his son:  but he that loveth him correcteth him betimes.

Douay-Rheims

But, that is not the summation of the Bible.  Where did Professor Boutwell gain his understanding of the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ and the love of his Father and the power of the Holy Spirit?

Back to the article, we are now faced with a whole new question.  Accepting that the parents, and anyone else is not a big factor in how a child grows us, is there still a capacity for wonder and learning that can be filled by actions of the parent and the community?  Otherwise, what is the value of additional programs to help children learn and grow, things like the Scouts and Promise Neighborhoods.

If this is real, it needs a lot more research and a lot more publication, so all of us who vote can be more informed in our decision making in the ballot booth—if the genes will let us.

Regards  —  Cliff