/sci/ - Science & Math

figuring out why some people grow up to follow in the same disastrous footsteps of their parents while others "figure it out" and follow a new path is really hard to do

Personally, I wondered the same thing. The environment that I grew up in was not only bizarre and cult-like, but my parents also went to great effort to prevent my sister and I from being exposed to outside influences. Yet, we both experienced a massive shift in our world view almost immediately after gaining independence. And we know it didn't have to be that way, most of the people we knew growing up went on to follow the same crap life that they were brought up in. We both changed but know that it didn't have to be that way. Why?

I spent a LOT of time thinking about that, and I think I was actually able to identify a few key experiences that I remember growing up that significantly contributed to me never "going off the deep end", so to speak. They were subtle things and I didn't realize the impact that they would have at the time. IMO OP, attributing it to something as simple as genetic intellligence is a mistake. Plenty of people around me growing up were just as, or more intelligent than I. You and your sister probably experienced things that caused this, it will just take a lot of reflection to piece it together. We were both in our early 20's when we realized everything, but it took me until my late 20's, early 30's to really understand why it turned out that way.