Values Discussion

In the readings this week the author H. Lewis talks about how the idea of values is not driven by genetics. This was a thought that really troubled me at the beginning. When I first read that section I thought about the fact that many people get their values from the way that they are raised and from their parents. I for one was taught that in order to be successful I would need to work hard. In my family going back four generations there is a small business, a local store that is run by my parents. This store has been there for many years and it has always been tended to and run by the father of the family. As the years went on it was passed down from father to son. From this we learned that hard work was important from a very young age. This was my first interpretation of the concept of genetics contributing to my values. If I had not been born into that family then I would not have had that experience that shaped what I think of as values. Then as I continued to think about this concept I realized that it is not the genetic connection I have with my family that shaped the values, that is just one part that lead me to the values. There are people born into the world that are adopted, and their life would then be shaped by the culture around them and not that of the biological connection. I was at first confused by the idea that genetics do not play a role in values, but then I read the section that stated, “The proposition that individual human beings are programmed into their values, either by the influence of genes on personality or by social pressures, can neither by proven nor refuted” (Lewis). In this statement it calls into question both the genetic question and that of mine which is whether or not the family can shape the values. But, this statement helped to reassure me that there is a chance that not only can genetics be part of values so can social elements.