> "Demonstrated abilities" are not heritable, because they presuppose achievements and you cannot inherit someone's achievements.
You seriously need to look up the word "heritability". Here's one from M-W: the proportion of observed variation in a particular trait (such as height) that can be attributed to inherited genetic factors in contrast to environmental ones.
> I'm not going to bother lecturing you on correlation and causation. You wouldn't read what I wrote anyway.
It's a good thing heritability does not require causation then. Because it sounds like you figured out my understanding of causation vs correlation on the incorrect premise that the former is required.
heritable
/'hɛrɪtəbəl/
adjective
capable of being inherited
But if you want to use your definition, that's fine too. I can tell you right now that whether a person has performed in a violin concert can be attributed far more to environmental factors than genetic factors—for instance, whether their school had a music program where they were compelled to perform in a recital.
Of course, heritability is a population statistic. In order to talk about whether having performed a violin recital is heritable, we'd need to select a sample population. Even then, it might not tell us much. Whether a person wears earrings can be attributed primarily to genetic factors (XX vs XY), but it's still ultimately cultural.
> It's a good thing heritability does not require causation then.
And? What point are you making? Again, you're not really reading my posts—just finding details to nitpick, and wasting my time in doing so.
You seriously need to look up the word "heritability". Here's one from M-W: the proportion of observed variation in a particular trait (such as height) that can be attributed to inherited genetic factors in contrast to environmental ones.
> I'm not going to bother lecturing you on correlation and causation. You wouldn't read what I wrote anyway.
It's a good thing heritability does not require causation then. Because it sounds like you figured out my understanding of causation vs correlation on the incorrect premise that the former is required.