I come from a unique environment that has allowed me to draw some very interesting conclusions.
I am from a family of 3 children. Two adopted and one "unexpected" natural birth.
One of the three of us has been in prison many times (and we have no other relatives that I know of that have ever been in trouble beyond the occasional speeding/parking ticket).
The other of the three of us is a carbon copy of their biological mother (dress sense, social sense, taste in music/books/films, mannerisms, extreme anti-social behaviour, etc) - they hadn't spoken until my sibling was 25 - so that was 25 years without contact, visibility, etc - and they still turned out to be a near carbon copy.
I followed in my parents footsteps in many ways, more than I realised at the time.
All three of us agree that we got the same toys, the same lollies, same schooling, same opportunities, etc... so we can only put the differences down to nature - and I can tell you that I'm a big believer that nature plays a BIG role in defining what we are...
I've often said "we don't just LOOK like our parents, it's also the nuances in the structure and wiring of our brains".
I have a few kids of my own, and while they are quite different (nerd v/s jock, introvert v/s extrovert, etc) - there are many similarities, unlike my siblings and I.
There are many more environmental factors than that, differences in behaviour between classmates, different friends, even the number of siblings are all environmental factors that I think make a difference.
You can all go to the same school with the same teachers but if one of you have a teacher on a Monday morning and the other has the same teacher Friday afternoon after teaching a stressful ill-disciplined class, then the second child may have a different view of that subject forever.
Did your parents know what the biological parents of your sibling were like ? I am playing the Pygmalion card.
Regarding your brother who has been in prison many times: adopted boys I know of are often in trouble. I think it's really hard to adopt and raise a child born from someone else. Some things don't seem to click.
I wonder what the statistics are telling about adopted children's success in life and how it is linked to biological parents and the adopting family education.
I am from a family of 3 children. Two adopted and one "unexpected" natural birth.
One of the three of us has been in prison many times (and we have no other relatives that I know of that have ever been in trouble beyond the occasional speeding/parking ticket).
The other of the three of us is a carbon copy of their biological mother (dress sense, social sense, taste in music/books/films, mannerisms, extreme anti-social behaviour, etc) - they hadn't spoken until my sibling was 25 - so that was 25 years without contact, visibility, etc - and they still turned out to be a near carbon copy.
I followed in my parents footsteps in many ways, more than I realised at the time.
All three of us agree that we got the same toys, the same lollies, same schooling, same opportunities, etc... so we can only put the differences down to nature - and I can tell you that I'm a big believer that nature plays a BIG role in defining what we are...
I've often said "we don't just LOOK like our parents, it's also the nuances in the structure and wiring of our brains".
I have a few kids of my own, and while they are quite different (nerd v/s jock, introvert v/s extrovert, etc) - there are many similarities, unlike my siblings and I.