Quote: (03-28-2015 09:26 PM)samsamsam Wrote:
Quote: (03-28-2015 06:17 PM)Sonsowey Wrote:
I have read Judith Rich Harris' work, which summarizes tons of research on parenting and behavior in kids, and finds basically that how you raise your children has 0% influence on how they turn out.
She says basically 50% is genetics, and 50% is a mix of their peer group/society/random variation
Adopted kids for instance turn out much more like their biological parents than their adoptive siblings in terms of intelligence, income, propensity for obesity, educational achievement, likelihood to go to jail, etc.
Identical twins raised in different homes turn out to be much more like each other than their adoptive families as well.
So I put a lot of faith into the fact that 50% of your kids, you can control via mate choice, and 50% you have almost no control over besides living in a place that sets them up to have a certain type of social environment vs. another.
Sort of scary to know I have no influence except maybe on how I supervise my kids peer groups. Doesn't make sense to me though. Parents play a role in how a child develops and it learns to behave in society. I can't believe they don't play a role.
Its scary because it is not true. If you give up on parenting your kids you are abdicating a huge responsibility. Believe me parents are the greatest influencer of a child by far.
"Go get yourself some"