Do you think children ‘inherit’ academic talents?

[Thesefourwhitewalls]

Probably the worst title in the world but I suppose it wouldn’t be a shock if (say) Marcus Rashford had a child who was very sporty, or if Adele’s child showed some talent for singing.

Does this extend to traditional areas of the curriculum? DH is brilliant at maths and earns really well as a result. I am utterly shit at maths and I can barely add up. Just wondering if DS will take after DH or me! Or if it’s not something you inherit?

I’m not sure. My DD is an amazing artist and as much as I love art and have always wished I had talent, I am absolutely useless as is DH. My Grandad is an artist so I’m not sure if that’s where she got it from, some sort of recessive artist gene . My other DD is sporty and I wouldn’t say DH is, I’m most definitely not.

Pretty much everyone in my family has a maths related degree. My mum says she isn't good at maths, but she is, she just never got the chance.
DH works in accounting.

DDs are good at maths.

I think its a mixture of inate ability and also having a parent who can help with understanding.

Yes intelligence is highly heritable. This has been shown in twin and adoption studies very clearly.

There is no guarantee that the child of an intelligent person will be intelligent but it is far more likely.

I don't know what percentage is genetic and what percentage is environmental, but from an academic perspective, dd has very simar strengths to my own. Even though she has chosen a completely different path.

MIL is really good at maths as well, and DH says that’s where he got it from. It’s really interesting. I’m not sure it’s down to a parent who can help, or maybe it is. My dad used to help but would get impatient and start shouting!

Of course it is!

Yes. Abilities can always be improved by nurture, whatever you start off with. However everyone is an individual and will inherit different potential.

I have heard that intelligence is inherited from the mother rather than from the father, but no idea if that's actually true or just one of those myths that's out there!

I think it's more that parents teach their children what they are confident at themselves. If you are bookish, you read to them and they see you constantly reading, if you're musical, they see you constantly making good sounds on instruments and you show them how.

DS will inherit bits from both of you...you just can't predict which ones.

I was far more academic than XH which DD has inherited, but maths/logic was never my strong suit. She's much better at those things which I put down to a combo of XHs and my mum's genes.

She's failed to inherit me and my dad's artistic leanings, but has inherited her other grandad's love of music.

And the stubborn, bloody minded determination of both her grans...God help me!

Christ poor DS

@gingerhills I’m not sure that’s true though. My parents tried to teach me a lot and I’m not sure it worked! I know what you are saying though.

Of course it is. It would be very odd if only physical traits were inherited. The play between nature and nurture is where it gets interesting!

at Secondary school many kids had parents who ran a shop or ran a farm - most of their DCs have gone on to run their own businesses, much to my envy, whereas everyone in my and DH's family worked for someone.

I think it is much more about the environment created at home. We are academic, not sporty, so our family activities veered towards museums and board games. We never reached a point where they were "on their own" homework wise, so they felt encouraged to continue with their education, to explore their limits beyond those of home.

One of my abiding memories of Dd21 was when she was 12, sitting on the kitchen floor holding a cardboard skull whilst she threw paint at it, we enjoyed the process, talked and laughed and she told me not many friend's mums would have done that. As parents we were not arty, nor are any of our family, but encouragement and facilitation has meant that she has exhibited work locally.

I think nurture, and the financial position to be able to indulge, tutor, spend time with all make the biggest differences.

Intelligence is heritable and can skip generations. So I'm an academic and the strengths in my intelligence are the same as my paternal grandmother and great grandmother. My DS has inherited these but is also shit hot at maths/science and that's from his Dad. His Dad's maths brain is from his maternal grandfather. Genetics are weird.

It's the age old debate of nature vs. nurture, isn't it.

I think it's a balance of both. I do believe you can be predisposed to excelling at certain things, but then you have to be in the situation where your talent is encouraged to come through, too. So good schools, supportive parents etc.

On that logic I should be a genius - went to so many museums and old churches.

I will take DS but also conscious of that line between exposure to culture and boring him. We went to so many old churches on holiday and they all just merge into one!

Sorry that was to @BeyondMyWits

IQ and more specific abilities are highly heritable as shown by twin and adoption studies.

Interestingly we become more like our genetic relatives as we get older, not less. It is thought that this is to do with gene-environment interactions. Small children have little choice about their activities so the profile is heavily shaped by the opportunities in the home (eg do the parents take them to museums). As adults they have more choice and if they have a natural interest in museums they can go themselves, which tends to lead to more interest in museums, etc.....

I find this really interesting. DH and his whole family are very good at maths. His mum and her siblings include a physicist, an engineer, a maths teacher and a computer programmer, and he and his siblings all did maths degrees. I think they definitely inherited it because unlike say art or music or even reading it’s much harder to make a hobby out of it! (I’m sure someone will come and correct me on that, but trust me DH wasn’t doing maths problems for fun as a kid).

My family are all much more into languages and literature. Very interested to see how our kids develop! (Too young to say atm).

Spelling pedant child takes after grandad here! My father lends books, sends articles neatly corrected in pencil in the margin. DD1 is hypercritical of word choice sentence structure and woe betide if I miss off a capital letter or comma in a message!

Yes, it is definitely inherited. I suppose the interesting thing in your case is where the child's parents have very different ability levels in a certain area. Which one does the child inherit from?

I really, really hope he’ll inherit dh’s ability with maths. It would make his life so much easier in so many ways.

I think it definitely does to a certain extent . I was always really good at reading and that’s where both my kids do really well at school .

Intelligence is inherited from the mother apparently:

www.independent.co.uk/news/science/children-intelligence-iq-mother-inherit-inheritance-genetics-genes-a7345596.html

I say 'apparently' as DS(8) is a proper maths genius. DH and BIL are Oxbridge scientists and mathematicians whereas I barely scraped through my A levels.