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A comment on Surnames offer depressing clues to extent of social mobility over generations. Parent comment

Re:Surnames offer depressing clues to extent of social mobil... by eli_gottlieb on Saturday November 09, 2013 @01:29PM (#6702522)
>It's really a simple question, do you personally think the nature of mate-choosing could lead to inequality over time?

Across deep time? No. People don't copy their parents' values or lifestyles over time, so they often wind up breeding differently than their parents did, so genetic recombination occurs and unusual genes flow back into the main population.

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Re:Surnames offer depressing clues to extent of social mobil... by lepukowsky on Saturday November 09, 2013 @03:41PM (#6703100)
I'm not talking about genes. I'm talking about the passing of culture, values, etc... It seems pretty obvious to me that good habits produce more good habits, and bad habits produce more bad habits among family lineage, but no one seems even willing to admit that!
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Re:Surnames offer depressing clues to extent of social mobil... by eli_gottlieb on Sunday November 10, 2013 @01:41AM (#6705568)
Well, children don't copy their parents.
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Re:Surnames offer depressing clues to extent of social mobil... by PeterisP on Sunday November 10, 2013 @11:02PM (#6709884)
Children do copy their parents more often than not - sure, they don't always do that, but both habits and values are quite hereditary (though mostly due to nurture, rather than genetics).
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