How much does genetics determine your life — research and calculations

[_MVP_]

To me it makes No Sense that in rich environment IQ is more heritable than in poor

No, IQ is i would say over 90% genetics

 

[romey_y]

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[kewerest]

To me it makes No Sense that in rich environment IQ is more heritable than in poor

That's exactly logical. In a poor environment genes are barely visible because the environment suppresses everyone equally. Poor nutrition, stress - this lowers the ceiling of possibilities for everyone. Both a smart and a dumb child get roughly the same results in a poor environment

 

[_MVP_]

That's exactly logical. In a poor environment genes are barely visible because the environment suppresses everyone equally. Poor nutrition, stress - this lowers the ceiling of possibilities for everyone. Both a smart and a dumb child get roughly the same results in a poor environment

Thats what i argued against

The one with better genetics will mog in whatever environment

 

[kewerest]

The one with better genetics will mog in whatever environment

I'm not denying that. I'm just saying that a poor environment won't let your genetic potential fully unfold.
The one with better genes will still be ahead. But he won't be where he could have been

 

[akuwennqu]

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I asked myself: how much does genetics determine life if you average it across all studies? While searching, I came across a meta-analysis of virtually all work on this subject. It says heritability is 49%. But I still decided to roughly estimate the average from other studies to check whether the result converges.​

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Meta-analysis of all twin studies​

https://www.nature.com/articles/ng.3285#Bib1
Meta-analysis of 2,748 publications, 14,558,903 twin pairs. All twin studies over 50 years.


Everything measurable in a human is on average 49% heritable.
And another important point:

Only unique environment works - what happened only to you.​

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Height and weight​

2023 study, 214 twin pairs aged 3–18:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36635383/

Another study, 2012, 12,000 twin pairs:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22347368/


View attachment 5733346

Another one, 2024, twin study:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39072540/


View attachment 5733348


Meta-analysis 2024, 560,000 pairs of relatives:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39564936/

The body is almost entirely genetics.​

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Face​

1998 study, 79 twin pairs:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9770105/#1

2022 study, 98 twin pairs, age up to 17:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35014186/#1

2013 study, 21 twin pairs:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24501696/#1

Meta-analysis 2019, 18,032 people in total:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31763980/#1
Locus - the place where a gene is located.

2025 study, 11,662 people:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40670343/#1

Not surprising, but the face is also almost entirely genetics.​

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Personality​

2025 study, 1,914 twins:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40088417/

Another study, 2018, 2,796 twins aged 19–46:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30392478/

Character is half-set.​

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IQ​

2015 review of twin studies:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25224258/


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A meta-analysis of 11,000 twin pairs shows that the heritability of intelligence increases significantly from childhood (age 9) to adolescence (age 12) and to young adulthood (age 17)
2003 study, twins:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14629696/

This means that in a poor environment IQ almost does not depend on genes, while in a rich one it is the opposite. The heritability of IQ depends on the environment.​

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Self-control​

2019 meta-analysis, 30,000 twin pairs:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30822436/

60% of self-control is genetics.​

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Optimism​

2009 study, 3,053 twins over 50:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19618259/

The baseline level of optimism is genetics.​

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Mental disorders​

2013 review of twin studies:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20459884/

View attachment 5733354

Predisposition to mental disorders is largely genetic.​

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Alcoholism and drug addiction​

2012 meta-analysis of twin and adoption studies:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22367454/

Predisposition to alcoholism and drug addiction is half genetics.​

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Religiosity​

2019 study, 273 twin pairs, mean age 33:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15745438/

Even faith is partly genetic.​

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Education and income​

2017 study, 1,100 twin pairs:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28606205/

2003 study:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14629696/

In a poor environment genes almost do not decide - the environment does. In a rich one it is different.​

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Mortality after 80​

2021 study, 699 twin pairs:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34630233/

View attachment 5733355

Heritability of longevity is 12%. The rest is environment and lifestyle.​

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Environmental factors that change heritability​

2014 study, 18,932 twins:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24878694/

2025 study, 9,080 children:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41282851/

In a poor environment genes decide little, in a rich one - a lot.​

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Calculation across all items​

Average values:
Height: 80 and 94 - (80 + 94) : 2 = 87%
BMI: 65%
Face: 71, 66, 62, 70, 66, 65, 55, 84 - (71 + 66 + 62 + 70 + 66 + 65 + 55 + 84) : 8 = 67.4%
Personality: 44.4 and 40 (48 + 35 + 37 = 120 : 3 = 40) - (44.4 + 40) : 2 = 42.2%
IQ: 80%
Self-control: 60%
Optimism: 36%
Mental disorders: 85, 81, 75, 72, 60, 56, 51, 48, 43, 40, 37, 28
85 + 81 + 75 + 72 + 60 + 56 + 51 + 48 + 43 + 40 + 37 + 28 = 676
676 : 12 = 56.3%
Alcoholism and drug addiction: 50%
Religiosity: 44%
Education: 54%
Income: 18%
Occupational status: 37%
Longevity (after 80): 12%
87 + 65 + 67,4 + 42,2 + 80 + 60 + 36 + 56,3 + 50 + 44 + 54 + 18 + 37 + 12 = 708,9
Number of items = 14
708.9 : 14 = 50.6%
50.6% genetics. 49.3% - environment.​

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Calculation only by biological indicators​

Height: 87%
BMI: 65%
Face: 67.4%
IQ: 80%
Self-control: 60%
Optimism: 36%
Mental disorders: 56.3%
Alcoholism: 50%
Longevity: 12%
87 + 65 + 67.4 + 80 + 60 + 36 + 56.3 + 50 + 12 = 513.7
513.7 : 9 = 57.1%
57.1% genetics. 42.9% - environment​

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Calculation by the most important indicators​

Height: 87%
BMI: 65%
Face: 67.4%
IQ: 80%
87 + 65 + 67.4 + 80 = 299.4
299.4 : 4 = 74.85%​

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If remove BMI:
Height: 87
Face: 67.4
IQ: 80
87 + 67.4 + 80 = 234.4
234.4 : 3 = 78.13%​

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Conclusion​

I did quite a lot of calculations. I replaced studies a million times because they gave me almost nothing. But every time I put it all together, the result ended up in roughly the same range: 50.4–51.4%.

I understand these are averages and that in different cases everything is different. Somewhere genetics decides almost everything, somewhere almost nothing. But if you take everything together, it turns out that genetics determines slightly more than half of life across all indicators.

In the end, I got four numbers: 50.6% - across all items, 57.1% - purely biological, 74.85% - by the most important ones, and 78.13% - by the most-most important ones, which have a huge influence on your entire life.

A huge meta-analysis says that on average genetics influences life by no more than 49%. If you're reading this, then most likely genetics has influenced most of your life. And far from for the better.

Spoiler

This is a translation of my thread from my language into English. Errors are possible.
@sasha108 @fantom0726 @trav191 @NotFun @tomacōck
DNR = FAGGOT

Spoiler

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[americanpakitruvcel]

Great thread bhai, read the whole thing

 

[L(oser)ooksmaxxer]

Everything is genetics some are born to win in life and most are condemned not just looks

 

[americanpakitruvcel]

Everything is genetics some are born to win in life and most are condemned not just looks

No but you don’t choose your environment which is also out of your control so ultimately your life is decided before you’re born anyways

 

[NotFun]

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[kewerest]

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