ok i was thinking about this earlier today. Yue said that the first waterbenders learned their waterbending from the moon, they watched how it pushed and pulled the water, and learned how to do it themselves. so that would make the art of bending an aquired trait. however, in the first eppisode Sokka says "if i had your powers..." meaning he doesnt have the waterbending power, and wasnt born with it like Katara was, so then would that make it a genetic sort of thing that is passed town generation from generation? because if it was an aquired trait then they could rebuild the nations, teach non-benders to do such things as airbending and such, so im just wondering...what is it?

It's probably genetics.. o0; With what Yue said, I think she meant the waterbendering gene lies dormant until you're able to harness the power one day. Maybe Sokka never recieved the gene from his parents?

I think its genetics too because in the Fortune Teller only one of the twin was an earth bander. I kinda think it works like it does on X-Men in theory. That that are lots of benders out there just like there was lots of mutants. And the "X" (mutated) gene is what gave certain individual's there powers and not others. That or its the spirits, but I like the X-men theory better

I thought it was genetics, but it's not in FreakishChild's opinion. See question 7 in the topic "Ask a Question, Get an Answer."

i don't think it's genetics because of the wins, twins have the exact same genes, so it's not genetics, the moon thing..i think it means that the first benders learn to bend from the moon, they already had the power but no master to teach them

probably, still kinda confused me though... ?

i might know the most about this stuff seeing as i dont know mayb that IM A TWIN AND I KNOW MORE ABOUT THIS THEN ALL OF YOU PUT TOGETHER haha awwwwwwww its so cute when you think you know what youre talking about

Um...I'm a Biology major and yes I might not be a twin but I understand the genetic dynamics that occur in twins. Twins share 100% of their genetic info. Behavior-wise, they are different because behavior is influenced by the environment they grow up in. Anyway, those earthbending twins from TFT proves how bending isn't always genetic. If it were, then both twins would be able to earthbend since they shared all of their genetic info. I think bending is spiritual or something.

I'm not sure people are reading what I referred to in the topic "Ask a Question, Get an Answer," so I'll just post it here:

Q7. What causes Bending?
An. Contrary to popular belief Bending is not hereditary, it???s spiritual. The staff has repeatedly thrown clues at us. Episode 14, identical twins share the same DNA yet one could Earthbend and the other couldn???t. Take a look at Katara and Sokka. Katara believes in the spirit of the Water Tribe. She kept faith in the mythical figure of Avatar even though he had not been seen in over a century and many had given up on him. Sokka is the most practical person on the show and won???t believe in anything until he witnesses it first hand. In Episode 1 he was weary of Katara and Aang???s abilities and did not understand Bending.

So there's a whole argument that bending is spiritual. I myself see loopholes in this, but it's food for thought.

Yo! Labousky is right about the spiritual thing. If you'll notice, Zuko says he had to work hard to become a good bender while Azula's talents came easily. It may be that a great spirit watches over each kind of element and gives the bending power to select individuals.

Not *everything* about identical twins is identical; they have different fingerprints, for example. And remember, the thing about fantasy worlds where the impossible is possible is that different laws of physics and other sciences (ex. genetics) apply. My theory:
- Bending is roughly genetic but nonetheles unpredictable, like magic to witches and wizards of mixed blood in Harry Potter: Harry's mother and aunt both had mixed blood, but only his mother was a witch.
Evidence:
- If bending were as easy a skill to learn as archery or something, what was the point in arresting anyone who could bend earth in "Imprisoned" because they felt threatened by Earth Benders? If anybody could learn it, they would have had to force everyone to live in a metal compound.

Yes, not everything about twins is identical, but think about it, why would the producers introduce twins AND specifically let us know that one can bend and one cannot???

I think genetic can play a role in how fast/how good u are at bending, but anyone can learn it with practice.

The reason why I think there are only firebenders in the fire nation, water benders in water tribes, etc, is because only that style of bending is available to the people there.

Like, if you were in China, you would probably try to learn Shaolin Kung Fu or something, not Judo from Japan right?

Have you guys ever considered that bending is a combination of both? No reason why not... this is a cartoon, so not everything has to work like it would on earth.