In the Pedigree Dog and Cat Worlds, nobody is under any delusion that the behavior of their animals is a function of their environment. Why, the environment is the same for all of the animals that they had bread, and some are mean spirited and some are nice and sweet. They would tell you that it is all a matter of breeding.
for instance, there is a new breed of Cat called the Bengal. It is a mix of Short Hair Oriental, such as a Siamese, and a Southern Indian Spotted Lepard which is not much larger than a house cat. Well, the first few generations of such a mix is too wild to be considered a domesticated cat -- they are not box trainable, and they do not carefully inhibit their aggression toward humans they was a socialized domestic cat will. But after 5 Generations the Bengal is no longer 'wild'. But, unlike for any other Breed, the Bengals have been given a personality Standard that they must meet. Because they are suspected of being 'wild' and thus aggresive, they must not during Show demonstrate any hostile behavior. Any growl, hissing, or attempt to bite or scratch will have them thrown out of Show. The response from the Breeders (after all the bellyaching about unfair burden) was that they searched hi and low for the sweetest and most easy going breeding stock to mix in with their Bengal Lines.
No one thought that by being especially nice to these cats -- by sterilizing their environment -- that the basic personality of these cats could be modified. It was simply understood that Personality is a direct product of their existential being -- traceable all the way back to birth and breeding. Bad Experience might damage a Good Personality, but a Good Personality cannot come out of a bad breeding.
Somebody once walked up to Albert Einstein and asked how long it takes to become so smart. He replied, "three generations".
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