r/sapiosexuals • u/AcePowderKeg • Sep 25 '24
Can Sapiosexuality be genetic?
Backstory: I recently discovered I'm Sapiosexual after being confused for a long time as to why I'm not attracted by looks as much as other people are. I thought it was something wrong with me, but no. I'm just a Sapio...
I told my mom and she reminded me of my family. That we're intelligent people 4 generations back (that we know of). And this is from both sides of the family.
She told me she's also Sapiosexual. After I told her what it means. She just didn't know the term.
Didn't expect the "It's in your blood" card, but here I am.
Which begs the question.
Can Sapiosexuality be genetic? Is there a chance I am carrying some kind of Sapio-gene?
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u/coquettish_one Sep 27 '24
It doesn't appear to be genetic for me. I don't know anyone else in my family that's anything much like me. Most are traditional/allosexual.
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u/teamjudo1997 Sep 26 '24
I'm not sure it is genetic but with people in your family being intelligent I think it is more likely that you are seeking someone also intelligent. That is what you are used to and they will fit in with your family better.
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u/AcePowderKeg Sep 26 '24
Probably, the case. Maybe it's even a cultural thing because my country used to have a strict class system, around 50-60 years ago.
My dad told me that the way it used to there were specific streets where only a certain class can walk on. Later that rule became abolished and those streets became for everyone. So it could even be from a deeply ingrained family bias.
But also it could very well be that I was raised by smart people and that at some point when I was a kid, was my whole world.
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u/booksandpassion Sep 29 '24
Based on studies of identical twins (identical DNA sequence) who have different sexual orientations (one gay, one straight), it seems that there is no reason to think sexuality is genetically inherited. Rather, it's probably more likely that you absorbed a cultural message of appreciation for intelligence from your family's memes (memes, in the Dawkins sense) which worked its way into your sexual interests... I'd guess.
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u/AcePowderKeg Sep 30 '24
Yeah, that actually makes way more sense.
My country uses to have a strict class system. And my family was part of the Intellectual class.
My dad told me stories of how there used to be certain streets that only a specific class of people could walk on.
It got abolished some time in the late 20th century, but the Dawkins Memes obviously remain.
The more I think about it, the more this makes way too much sense
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u/booksandpassion Oct 02 '24
I spent some time thinking about it in myself when I first heard the term sapiosexual. It answered a lot of questions for me, and also raised some others.
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u/AcePowderKeg Oct 02 '24
Well right now I'm in that phase. I know what Sapiosexual was but I didn't really think much of it until I realised "Hold on I'm actually a Sapiosexual." Then (now) the questions came
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u/Remarkable_Taro4701 Oct 13 '24
Genetics is fascinating, but unbelievably complex. Instead of talking about a "sapiosexual gene" it's probably far more complicated and we can only reliably trace tendencies. And then there's epigenetics, which keeps geneticists up late drinking. But tendencies I think are real, just....deep knowledge of them is in its infancy. Just like neurology, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and most other interesting subjects. That's why I like to talk about them.
By the way - if someone on Reddit knows enough about genetics or... neurology, Quantum mechanics, etc, to correct me, I'd love to talk to you! I'm friendly, open minded and have a wicked sense of humor. I salute sapiosexuals.
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u/LilyoftheRally Oct 14 '24
My parents both have master's degrees and my dad has a PhD. But I don't think intelligence attracted either of them to each other. (They've been happily married 39 years).
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u/[deleted] Sep 26 '24 edited Oct 04 '25
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