The rise of heritable IQ with age makes sense when we consider the constraints posed by family and siblings. These no longer serve a purpose. I wonder if the rise of heritable IQ correlates with loss of family members. Due to a genetic disease I lost 2 brothers in early adult years and I expanded into "their" family territory. I stepped up and out. I also see this as a desire to keep their spirit alive, but I cultivated competencies that felt familiar but had been dormant in me.
Hi Nancy. I think that could be part of it. I've seen evidence suggesting that the heritability of political attitudes suddenly increases at exactly the age that people typically leave home, which would be consistent with what you're suggesting (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tig.2012.07.004).
On the other hand, I don't think that could be all of it, as the heritability of IQ and some other traits increases steadily from early childhood, even before people leave home or their siblings leave home (https://doi.org/10.1375/twin.10.3.423).
Hi Steve, thank you for responding and providing interesting links that give me a whole lot to think about. The first, on political attitudes makes me think about the shifts of political attitudes "en masse" that later swing back after a period of intense political rhetoric by the state. But absent such collective events, we are more likely to lean into our hereditable traits - it is fascinating to think about the link to our primary drives but makes sense in an uncertain world.
The second article is not as easy to digest, but I take away the thought that who we choose to mate with and where we choose to live, for example, will influence our otherwise hereditable traits, perhaps to differing degrees based on our make up. The older I get, the more I lean toward the belief that as we age, and given reasonable life conditions, we become more like ourselves, or who we have been from the beginning. With a little effort, we become more comfortable expressing ourselves. I note the term "gene expression" which I understand and appreciate.
The rise of heritable IQ with age makes sense when we consider the constraints posed by family and siblings. These no longer serve a purpose. I wonder if the rise of heritable IQ correlates with loss of family members. Due to a genetic disease I lost 2 brothers in early adult years and I expanded into "their" family territory. I stepped up and out. I also see this as a desire to keep their spirit alive, but I cultivated competencies that felt familiar but had been dormant in me.
Hi Nancy. I think that could be part of it. I've seen evidence suggesting that the heritability of political attitudes suddenly increases at exactly the age that people typically leave home, which would be consistent with what you're suggesting (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tig.2012.07.004).
On the other hand, I don't think that could be all of it, as the heritability of IQ and some other traits increases steadily from early childhood, even before people leave home or their siblings leave home (https://doi.org/10.1375/twin.10.3.423).
Hi Steve, thank you for responding and providing interesting links that give me a whole lot to think about. The first, on political attitudes makes me think about the shifts of political attitudes "en masse" that later swing back after a period of intense political rhetoric by the state. But absent such collective events, we are more likely to lean into our hereditable traits - it is fascinating to think about the link to our primary drives but makes sense in an uncertain world.
The second article is not as easy to digest, but I take away the thought that who we choose to mate with and where we choose to live, for example, will influence our otherwise hereditable traits, perhaps to differing degrees based on our make up. The older I get, the more I lean toward the belief that as we age, and given reasonable life conditions, we become more like ourselves, or who we have been from the beginning. With a little effort, we become more comfortable expressing ourselves. I note the term "gene expression" which I understand and appreciate.