The Role Of Nature Vs. Nurture In The Moral Arc

In Michael Shermer’s book The Moral Arc: How Science Makes Us better people, one of the first topics that is introduced to the reader is the one of the oldest arguments in history, Nature vs Nurture. In his book, Shermer proposes the theory that we are all born into this world with some sort of moral compass. Therefore, we all have basic knowledge of what is right and what is wrong. However, the degree to how wrong or right someone views something to be can be shaped by how they are nurtured. Shermer states that the levels of guilt that we feel for violating certain social obligations can and will vary depending on the environment that we are raised in. In this case nature is defined as those characteristics and personality traits that we acquire genetically (eye color, height, etc.) and nurture is defined as the characteristics, personality, or behavioral traits that we develop from our surrounding environment or how a …show more content…
Nurture debate is one of the most hotly debated topics in history because of the fact that the line that separates the two is too blurry to really attribute all traits and characteristics to just one and not the other. In the modern scientific society the debate has almost been thrown out altogether because it is too general in trying to see its differences and not noticing that both nature and nurture interact together to produce human traits and characteristics. For example, someone with a family history of diabetes are considered at risk because diabetes can be hereditary, however if the person with a family history of diabetes is proactive and purposely strives to make healthier choices in life then he has a good chance of going through life without ever having diabetes. Neither nature nor nurture can be the sole determinant of all of the traits that belong to human beings. It is when we combine the two through science that we began to notice that the two interact with each other and in fact can vary depending on that