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February 11th, 2008
11:11 PM ET
Politics in our genes?
Study the issues. Listen to the candidates. Make an informed decision. And now it turns out my political views were pre-set in my DNA?!? Ok, no one's saying that for sure, but it's what some scientists are studying: whether our political tendencies might be coded into our genes.
So if people are genetically hard-wired to pick one party over the other, should they just show up to vote in November and let their genes do the talking? Or is it worth it to follow the entire election process and try to keep an open mind? What do you guys think?
Jordan Bienstock, Writer, CNN Student News
I think your political affiliation being genetic is nonsense. I mean, Humans have been around a lot longer than the American political system, and even if someone developed some kind of "Democrat/Republican Gene", it wouldn't be that widespread. However, there are genes that affect the way we think, and that could influence us to share the views of one political party or another. Realistically, the way to check this is to find identical twins who didn't have the same enviornment growing up, and see if they vote identically, or just similarly.
i think this is true. if two vote for the same person almost every year that must be something. it might not be republicain/democrat gene but it must be a gene that you think the same way how youre country should be controlled. this was a good discovery.
I think that it is in our genes becuase we all want to be the leader of something. Some people may say that they just want to follow but I think that all of us have a leader inside, We all can debate and vote to see whos best. Some people thinks its boreing like I do but some think its very interesting.
I think it is possible that from the 200 some years that we have been voting it is highly possible that we have developed a politic gene.
I think it's a bit crazy to think so.I think the reason why they think similarly is because of the environment,not the genes.
I think our gene are what we think and do not what a twin would do to each other.
I think the idea that a gene that determines how we vote is ridiculous. It's pathetic if this is where all our tax payers' money is going to. There are so many more issues in this day and age that could be discussed than the debate over whether or not our genes affect how we vote. People will vote yes, but how they vote is their personal choice and it's not dependent on a specific gene.
To me politics is not in our genes because everybody had their own oppinions on thins and everyone is there own person. ( AND CARL my classmates and I are big fans of your funny jokes!)
I believe this idea is absolutely ridiculous. It is your OWN opinion of who you like as a presidential candidate. In twins, it may be more common though since they share DNA, but for people without twins i bellieve that this idea is absolutely untrue.
I think having a political gene is totaly not right. I do believe that the enviorment around you,such as parents and others,has effects on your political thinking.
I do think that in some cases Polotic's is in your blood. Not in my case tho. I support Obama and my mom loves Clinton. But overall i do think that it is in your blood.
I think that it is possible to have your political feelings hidden in your DNA. For example, this election my mom is always asking me who I want to be elected as president. My choice has always been Hillary Clinton. It doesn't really surprise me that my parents feel the same way. Even my sister feels Hillary Cliton should be president. A coincidence or just the truth, I think your political feelings can be in your DNA.
I don't think we are hard wired.I think its cultural.If you are raised in an environment that respect the rights of others the chances are that you will as well.If on the other hand you are raised in an environment that promotes violence to others,the chances are that you will have those tendencies.We come to the human table with all genetic possibilities.Which of our collective genes are activated is determined by our environment.
That is crazy! If it's in your genes, how did it get there? If this is true, are you saying that if my mom and dad both love pizza that there is somehow a gene in me that says I like pizza too?! Crazy. Political parties and their fans are not affected because of genes. They are affected by the environment like Alice said. If you are raised in favor of the Republican party, there's a good chance that you are going to vote for Republicans. The reason twins vote for the same thing is probably because of their closeness in age. If you spend your childhood living with someone the same age as you, you are going to have the same views on things because you are together alot of the time and this brings us back to environment. They are both raised by the same parent, so they will probably think the same way. One thing that scientists may want to study is twins that are raised in two separate homes. Taht goes for all around siblings too. If that shows they vote for the samer thing after many trials, then maybe this can happen, but until then, no way!
I do not think that there is really a specific Republic or Democratic gene in our DNA. The way we were rise and the environments we were expose to has affect what we value the most and how we see things. Gene don’t effect how we vote but our beliefs and values do.
Politics are not found in our genes, but rather they are influence by our surroundings. I believe that parents often have the biggest influence on political views. If it were true that politics are in our genes then there would be no reason for a voting age.
I think that our political views is not in our genes. I believe that what we hear about politics could be affected and changed due to what peers or elders say. I don't think that you can just go to vote and that the choice just comes to you. People should actually research the candidates.
I think that this is pretty irrelevant. I believe that there are so many factors, which do not include genetics, which influence an individual. If I knew that my genetics “decided” what party I would pick, would I go with that party? One who is independent might vote for the other party just to prove the statistic wrong. It simply will not do anyone any good to know.