Nature or Nurture ?

A

akivory

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Feb 5, 2001
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What makes you who you are? With biological, foster and adopted children I often wonder what a given behavior can be attributed to.
As I have found out more about my heritage and found that for many generations on my father’s side the men were carpenters and craftsmen. On my mothers side were pioneers and explorers. I have worked with my hands all my life. When I was a teenager I hitchhiked through 48 states and most of Canada before settling in Alaska.
Was my life path set for me? If it was I followed it and it has been a good life.
 
I don't think there's any real doubt, both nature and nurture have a part to play. I don't believe in genetic predisposition in anything but the most general terms. Humans are a generalist species, and the minor biological differences between ethnic lines of descent are unimportant.

Raise an Eskimo in Africa or a Zulu in Alaska and they will adapt, with some physiological constraints, but a lifetime in a given environment will find them adapting to that. Cultural habits and artifacts will ease the burdens immensely.
 
Esav Benyamin said:
Humans are a generalist species, and the minor biological differences between ethnic lines of descent are unimportant.
Click to expand...
Of course--but the differences between individuals can be huge. Some babies cry when they hear loud noises; others perk up. Some people seem to be cheerful through most of their lives, in almost all situations; other people are melancholy through good times and bad.
What surprises me is: within a single culture, we see tremendous variations in personality that seem to be innate, but if we look at different cultures, it's clear that a lot of our behavior and attitudes are learned too. American introverts and extroverts will still have similar assumptions about family obligations, for example, while their Xhosa counterparts are likely to have a very different viewpoint. [In many African societies people are strongly obligated not just to their parents and siblings but to a huge extended family.]
 
I personally think that genetics and behavior is vastly underrated.
If you've never looked at a few of the studies done on separated twins, the results will scare you.
 
From everything I've read, the only accurate answer is "both". Anyone who leans towards saying it's all "nurture" should read "The Blank Slate" by Steven Pinker.
 
Nature or nurture?

Ah yes, one of the great questions that men have debated throughout the ages. Of course, the reason the debate has raged is because there's no way to know the answer.

But, as we decode human genetics, bit by bit, we are inching closer. Why waste our time arguing about it when, within about 50 years, we will know the answer?
 
A second vote for "The Blank Slate". Fascinating book.

His conclusions about child rearing indicate a far more important role for the child's peer group than either genetics or parenting.
 
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