Shenk expresses, that even if people are cloned, they won't be exactly the same, and that their personalities would be different (74). But on page 75, he talks about two identical twins named, Jim Lewis and Jim Springer, who both lived away from each other but had such similar lives. Without having the same personality, how does one have the same events that occur in each others lives?
Would you think that they should have an intelligence test on both of these identical twins along with a personality to test to see if having same genes proves the theory of having different personalities correct or wrong? Also for the animals that are cloned, is there specific tests that can tell your personality?
Ganga (gangasruthi@gmail.com)
One important similarity that can account for many of the other similarities between identical twins Jim Lewis and Jim Springer is that they both grew up in the same region of Ohio. This singular demographic similarity vastly increases the chances of having other things in common. For example, they both "drank Miller-Lite [and] chain smoked Salem cigarettes. These similarities can be explained by the cultural similarities of that region of Ohio; those cigarettes and that type of beer are likely popular enough in that region of Ohio that the twins were likely to consume one or both of them.
ReplyDeleteAnother similarity between the brothers is the naming of their sons. James, which was the first name of both of their sons, is also the most popular male name in America (http://names.mongabay.com/male_names.htm). Therefore, the chance of two American men living in Ohio naming their sons James is higher than them naming their sons any other name. The common middle name, Alan/Allen, is also one of the most popular male names (#91). In addition, Shenk explained the strong influence of shared cultural experiences by describing an experiment in finding similarities among 50 random college students. In the experiment, one par of students "showed a remarkable collection of similarities: both Baptists, both pursuing nursing careers, both passionate about volleyball and tennis, both favored English and math, both detested short-hand,and both preferred to vacation in similar places," (Shenk 81). These similarities are remarkable and very similar to the twins. However, this random pair did not know each other and was not raised together; instead, their similarities were due to a common cultural experience and chance.
Giving an intelligence test and a personality test to identical twins would provide a fascinating opportunity to observe any similarities between the two. However, these test does not account for shared cultural experiences, early shared GxE, and hidden dissimilarities. Therefore, genes providing a personality could not be proven with these two tests.
There are multiple qualitative ways to determine the personality of cloned animals. For example, the animals could be observed with similar and dissimilar creatures in order to determine how sociable and gregarious they are. In an experiment to determine the personalities of monkeys, scientists measured: Neuroticism vs. Emotional Stability, Agreeableness vs. Antagonism, Extraversion vs. Introversion, Open vs. Closed to Experience, Dominance vs. Activity, and Conscientiousness vs. Impulsiveness (http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1020&context=sss). The tests often involved observing the monkeys while they interacted with others and recording their actions and qualities in order to determine their personalities.
^ Laura Perlman (laura4@comcast.net)
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