As with gods and other corporate bodies, the reason old folks so overwhelmingly go in for the idea of genetic determinism (and nature-over-nurture in general – as if one is exclusive of the other) is that it detracts from their own maleficent complicity in breaking, er, domesticating children and excuses their own inability to act any differently. Then there is the related oxymoron (on analogy with oxycodone, an oxygenated retard – see also: 'hot air' and 'backfire'), "pre-existing conditions", which is to say "under the influence of an environment yet to exist", which is also to say "in debted to future events unfruited in the past", unless, of course, the existence of which we are speaking is your own. In light of the prevalence of disobedience, "pre-existing conditions" can only refer to the expedient amnesia (called "euphemism" in polite circles) regarding one's own arrearing.
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