In the Houston Red/Blue Workshop yesterday someone raised the question “How many of us have the same political orientation as our parents?”
I’m fascinated by this, and the broader question “how do we form our beliefs”. I’ve have read a number of works on the subject. My takeaway is that all these apply:
* Nature: The difficulty of disentangling genes from the environment notwithstanding, research points to a degree of heritable predisposition.
* Nurture: Family and early social environment are major factors. Many people receive values and orientations from their parents, and retain them for life.
* Choice: Our reasoning and values lead to conscious choices of political views.
* Accident: Our life experiences, often due to accidents, are major influences on how we change over time.
I can personally trace my journey through changing political orientations, under the influence of all of these factors. But I don’t think my basic values have not changed; it is rather my view of how those values can best be realized in this complex and imperfect world.
What do you think determined your orientation? Do you think there are other factors, not listed above? Did your orientation change over time? Is it continuing to change even now?
