My interests being hereditary?

Hello, like I begin most of my threads hopefully this is the best section to post this in.

Basically I'm just curious how much of my interests, specifically for this matter, in things like fighter jets, or just aircraft in general, spacecraft/rockets and other similar things (so I guess basically just, engineering, maybe?) would/could trace back to genes and heredity.

I'm mainly wondering because (although not so much now) all through my childhood and late teen years my father was really into cars and was a backyard mechanic. I shared a small general interest though not too considerable, (at that time I was more into music) but over the last ~6-7 years or so I've really discovered/developed a deeper interest and fascination in things like I mentioned before.

I don't know much about the matter of any relation between DNA and a childs interests, so like I said I'm just simply curious how much of this would or could come from my genes and heredity.

Lol....maybe my mom was right, that they gave them the wrong baby to bring home from the hospital. I am NOTHING like my parents or family from the past.

No one in my family ever went to college & I got my degree & ended up a computer firmware design engineer. But growing up, I hated living in the city & loved country life. I retired, got divorced (another thing no one in my family ever did) & bought a little 10 acre farm & am now in my happy place in life.

I also do many of my own repairs around here....home & mechanical. I am totally different from everyone on my family & past family. I think some people have more of inheriting from ones past than others.

I kinda guessed there was a bit more to it than just genetics, such as things like environmental factors and the likes. But like I said I don't really know much about this matter, so honestly I was probably mostly wondering just to get an idea of if my genes are generally going/likely to shape my interests (specifically in terms of a career down the line) to be similar to my father's.

I have seen families with a long line of generational accountants or MD's so it is possible. Sometimes that happens because that is what is talked about in the house growing up around so there is already a level of knowledge that exists which helps if the person's interests actually lean that way....family pressure to follow can also be a part of that too.

No one in my family had a real career & I so badly didn't want to be like my family that my own internal drive kicked in & I ended up getting my degree is a total field that no one in our family had even dabbled in. However, I actually got my AA degree in music because talent ran in our family & a 3rd cousin was a music professor at USC. LOL....my talent was not at that level so found something I was good at.

I’m not sure the interests themselves are hereditary but certain aspects of IQ could be. So say I have a great spatial memory that allows me to rotate objects in my head....I might be more for puzzles or fixing cars where I can see parts coming together easier than my peers. Let’s say my visual memory is top rank, then I might like to paint. I personally think we gravitate to things that are easy for us in our hobbies.

Those kind of interests are mostly learned. As we grow up we learn from our environment and our parents. Even if they are not teaching these things to us.

Talent can certainly be inherited. That does not mean it will be your passion though.

My maternal grandfather was a tailor and made clothes for his family. Grandmother did not sew, my mother sewed minimally. I don't really remember my grandpa, he died when I was 6 or 7 and I never spent time with him or ever saw him sewing. I inherited his talent and interest in sewing. Growing up I had 0 experience with a sewing machine. At 10 or so I started making barbie doll clothes by hand. I had no idea what I was doing then, but now I know it was my natural talent driving me. I developed it and sewing is my main passion.

Also, my daughter inherited traits from my mother. I am not an organized person at all. My mom was super organized (she was not around when I was growing up). And my daughter certainly didn't spend time with her. She has always from very young kept her things ultra organized. She's 40 and still has toys and things from her toddler days. She also has other traits she inherited from mom.

Environment can certainly influence what interests you develop. But I also believe anything can be inherited genetically, the bad and the good.

I think families do influence a person's interests to varying degrees. I grew up in a very musical family. Every Sunday, when I was a child, my family would go to the music room (yes, my grandparents called it that) and most family members would have jam sessions. I would dance. Though no one else really danced, I see that as related to the music. Obviously. Of course I love music, and quite a wide variety of it.

Many people in my family had lots of hobbies and activities. Not all, but most. The hobbies and activities may not have been exactly the same, but most of us did various things. No one in my family has been an avid TV watcher. Not that we didn't watch TV, but much less than most families. Most people in my family have also been more than willing to do things independently, with little fear. Every person in my family left the nest pretty much right after high school (college, marriage, or military). As a then young woman, I knew how to protect myself from dangers, but I was not afraid of so many things that many young women are now.

My sister seems to be the only person in my family that is overly self-conscious. I'm not sure why she is like that, while everyone else isn't. She was like that even before meeting her husband, but I think her husband exacerbated it. And yet, when she really needs to assert herself or do something independently, she can.