I don't think there is research to say for sure. Speaking from my own experience, I would say its environmental factors and our life circumstances that we have a waifu.

humans have always needed something to worship. What predisposes a person to be attracted to a celebrity? i think every 13/14 year old had that one poster of that one celebrity in their room. “All right," said Susan. "I'm not stupid. You're saying humans need... fantasies to make life bearable." HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.

I would say environmental, the S O C I E T Y is what makes us and forgets us (? I would say it might be both, but I see it clearly as Environmental being the one favored Because think of it, why do you all have Waifus, I haven't read all your stories, but most went through tough shit or were in a bad place, so perhaps those circumstances are what made us people that would fall in love with fictional lasses Thanks for coming at my TED talk

if it were genetic you'd expect it to be rather evolutionarily unfavorable. I can't imagine the waifu genes have an easy time spreading given the nature of the lifestyle.

>>71145 While that is true, gay and lesbian people are a thing, and their gene's are about as difficult to spread as a theoretical "waifu gene".

>>71146 it really makes you think

>>71146 how can there be a gay and lesbian gene when gays and lesbians can't have kids to pass on their geans to?

>>71152 a social obligation to marry/have kids with the opposite sex

>>71145 >f it were genetic you'd expect it to be rather evolutionarily unfavorable Sure, but that doesn't mean it cannot pop out in a generation, as "mutational load". It will simply not be around in the next generation, as most of the waifuists clearly don't want to reproduce. Going from what I have read on /a/, some ex-waifuists do get married and have kids, so they might end up generating a predisposition in their offspring

>>71236 ex-waifuists are TRAITORS!

>>71138 From what I've seen, it seems that waifufags have high Openness (Big Five) which is heritable, + whatever they have that stops them (us) from having 3D relationships, be either autism, schizophrenia, etc which are heritable too. I would argue that in most cases, waifuists are born. Which I think is kinda cute, you were born to love waifu! :3 >>71145 You don't need [trait] genes for [trait] to be heritable, genes could just lead to traits that predispose you to be a waifufag. E: Autism.

>>71240 if a person is born a waifuist then why do ex-waifuists exist i don't think you can just opt out of your genetics if you change your mind.

>>71242 I think looking purely genetically at things is misdirection: environment is just as important. Regardless of genetic disposition, if your environment encourages you into doling something, you will be more likely to do so, even if genetically you are disposed against it.

>>71242 >if a person is born a waifuist then why do ex-waifuists exist Same reason why not everyone who is great at a sport in high school will be a professional player 10 years later. Some people have a phase, others are here to stay >>71243 >I think looking purely genetically at things is misdirection: environment is just as important. It's really a false dichotomy: the environment is how you get to express your genes. One is the musical instrument, the other is the script

>>71245 >the environment is how you get to express your genes Are you saying that fate exists in the DNA and we're just doomed to whatever fate has in store for us? I will not excuse people for being born a certain way, genes are just a factor in a myriad of things, including your own free will.

>>71247 >Are you saying that fate exists in the DNA and we're just doomed to whatever fate has in store for us? That is my experience, yes. I'd love to be proven wrong, but it's going to take some serious evidence to the contrary for me to change my mind

>>71251 >That is my experience everyone's experience is different, we all have different stories to tell. what is your story, what is your experience that make you come to that believe

>>71253 Both in terms of looks and personality, I look like a combination of my father and my mother. My strengths roughly overlap with theirs and so do my weaknesses. I have come to realize this after many years of spending time away from my parents and trying to plan my life so that it would resemble theirs as little as possible If both your body and your brain are shaped by your genes, how can you say that your free will exists outside of your genetics?

>>71255 Would you be here on a board about 2D love if you were really that similar to your parents, both of whom would likely be horrified that you're on a site about such a topic to begin with?

>>71263 First of all, I am a combination of their personalities, not just a copy of either side. The outcome of this combination is not easily predictable Secondly, who's to say boomers would not behave the way we do if they had been born a lot later than they were?

Oh wow, discussion moving fast >>71264 Didn't you literally just acknowledge that external factors are dictating why you are the way you are, like the digital era being a thing or I could say amounts of free time to be here in the first place, the knowledge of anime culture in general...? Isn't that a point against fate being dictated by genes? I acknowledge I look like my father, but your person isn't dictated by your looks. You are a combination of things, your genes, sure, your experiences which are unique to you, your responses to those situations and the ladder of repercussions those responses have on you and others. At some point, you gotta stop blaming your genes and more yourself for the choices you make otherwise, unironically, there's no point in living

>>71265 >Didn't you literally just acknowledge that external factors are dictating why you are the way you are, like the digital era being a thing or I could say amounts of free time to be here in the first place, the knowledge of anime culture in general...? >Isn't that a point against fate being dictated by genes? No. I said environment is the way genes are manifested, environment is the stage and genes are the actor. We are all on the internet, but we don't all use the same websites or the same niches within certain giant websites. There is certainly a few genes that create a predisposition or disinclination for being an /a/ browser >At some point, you gotta stop blaming your genes and more yourself for the choices you make otherwise, unironically, there's no point in living Let's go back to this once you have come across a situation where you can literally do nothing to achieve a certain outcome

>>71273 >Let's go back to this once you have come across a situation where you can literally do nothing to achieve a certain outcome I'm back what's up

>>71276 Now you know that your free will is constrained

>>71279 Let's go back to this once you have come across a situation where you had to make a really hard decision

>>71281 I have had a few such situations. What about them?

>>71284 Now you know that you have a free will to make decisions with

>>71273 >literally do nothing to achieve a certain outcome accepting that you are only responsible for doing the leg work and not the outcome. you are defined by the actions that you make. not the blood that makes you