Nature Vs. Nurture Essay

Improved Essays
It is believed that these two features -- nature or nurture -- held sway over human tendency towards certain behaviors. In order words, our genes and surroundings do not only dictate the color of our eyes and hair, or the way we talk and dress, but also our tendency in partaking in certain criminal activities, like murder. In many crime stories, these two forces can easily said to be the led factor. Like the story of the schoolboy who has committed his first crime at age 10, and later was jailed for armed robbery at 15. The teenager, Nathaniel Hemy, followed Nringleader Sid Pumford who was brandishing a meat cleaver, and terrorized workers as they opened up for business, forcing them to open the safe, taking $150. To his defense, according …show more content…
Nature is what we think of as pre-wiring and is influenced by genetic inheritance and other biological factors. Nurture is generally taken as the influence of external factors after conception e.g. the product of exposure, experience and learning on an individual. Biologists have known for a long time that gene expression is complex and DNA does not decide biology, let alone other characteristics of physical and mental health, behavior and intelligence. Nevertheless, over the years, the deterministic model that genes alone define biology has become enshrined as the prevailing paradigm. Similarly to the color of one 's eyes, it is also believed that their actions are predetermined. But I strongly disagree. It is a fallacious way of thinking, for many reasons. For instance, since our physical and mental health, behavior and intelligence come innately to an individual then those same characteristics have to be present and visible in the individual offspring 's; like, it would be useless for Michael Jordan 's son to even try out in his high school Junior Varsity basketball

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Nature's Truth The Nature vs. Nurture is the most common debatable subject in Psychology. Like whether personality is a nature or a nurture thing. I personally think that nature is the biggest predictor of personality and behaviour. And it refers to the range of traits, capacities and limitations that each person inherits genes from his or her parents at the moment of conception such as pigmentation of the skin, eye colour, body type, diseases, athletic ability, memory and etc. But some traits have a stronger tendency to get passed down like height and weight unlike shyness and intelligence which have some tendency to get passed down.…

    • 862 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The nature-versus-nurture issue is the scientific, cultural, and philosophical debate about whether human culture, behavior, and personality are caused by nature or nurture. Now the connection of the overproduction of synaptic connections and their subsequent retraction, or pruning with the nature-versus-nurture issue is that they both are heredity. Heredity means the passing of physical or mental characteristics genetically from one generation to another. Also, the connection is that the environment comes to play when it influences the timing and course of pruning. When it comes to the nature-versus-nurture issue, environment comes into play and so does the physical characteristics.…

    • 220 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Nature versus Nurture debate can be traced back to a few millenniums ago, and to this day it continues to rattle our brains with its complexity. William Golding an english novelist wrote the book Lord of the flies in 1954 under the preconceived notion that every human is born with the propensity to do evil; as opposed to Jean-Jacques Rousseau a philosopher and writer of the 18th century who swears it is our environment that shapes us to be good or evil. Genetic influence over traits may exist; however, the environmental factors are the real origins of our behavior. I agree with Rousseau on the nurture theory of this debate. Feral Children are a good example of Jean-Jacques theory.…

    • 929 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    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…

    • 757 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Rousseau Vs Hobbes

    • 1389 Words
    • 6 Pages

    However, recent scientific discoveries, including in the field of Epigenetics, suggest that nature and nurture may influence each other to the point where it is difficult to distinguish between them. So as it stands, it may be reasonable to suggest that both theories are at least…

    • 1389 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The phrase Nature vs Nurture, is something that many parents debate about. Will my child develop anxiety because my husband and I suffer from it? The answer for this varies dependent on how exposed this child might be to anxiety, but that does not guarantee that the child will not inherit certain social anxieties. I have actually seen this with my husband, because he suffers from anxiety. You can physically see his anxiety due to sweats and pale look in his face anytime we go out in public.…

    • 353 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dr. Bruce Lipton, an American developmental biologist who is widely known for promoting the idea that genes and DNA can be manipulated by a person’s environmental factors and personal beliefs, once said, “Genes load the gun, but environment pulls the trigger.” The debate of Nature versus Nurture has been a timeless controversy over whether or not Nature, in reference “to all of the genes and hereditary factors that influence who we are- from our physical appearance to our personality characteristics” (Cherry), or Nurture, “refers to all of the environmental variables that impact who we are, including our early childhood experiences, how we were raised, our social relationships, and our surrounding culture” (Cherry). In Barbara Kingsolver's…

    • 1003 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Psychology is basically the study of the mind, and has many topics that can have people debating. Nature vs. Nurture is a classical debate that has been going on for some time. Many scientist say that nature is the reason for ones behaviors, but other scientist argue that nurture or life experiences shape a person. Both sides have some pretty reliable information, but neither side has a prime factor to be the reason. Nature is our genetic inheritance, and scientist have proven that genes do get passed on.…

    • 448 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Violence and Genetics Humans are made up of genes and inside genes are chromosomes. Humans have 46 not including sex chromosomes. Female chromosomes are labeled as XX and Male as XY normally. There are variations to these chromosomes which include XXY and XYY. The controversy in question is that males with XYY chromosomes have a tendency to become more violent.…

    • 586 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The nature vs nurture debate is a classic debate in psychology. It is one of the oldest arguments in the psychology community, and has in fact existed longer than the twenty-one years I 've been alive. Since first introduced by Francis Galton in 1869, it has evolved as an even more controversial topic. There are those who believe that nature has the biggest influence on one’s behavior, while others argue that nurture does.…

    • 828 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Nature Vs Nurture Debate

    • 694 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Every human is made differently. From the day they are born, no two strands of DNA are even close to being similar. Not only is everyone’s chemical makeup different, but the way one is raised and adapts to the world varies greatly from anyone else, but what makes the most difference is the way that one’s nature or the way one is nurtured effects them. This debate has been ongoing ever since it was brought up in 1869 by Sir Francis Galton. “Medicine Net” is a well known medical website which explains the theory, “In the context of the nature vs. nurture debate, ‘nature’ refers to biological/genetic predispositions’ impact on human traits, and nurture describes the influence of learning and other influences from one’s environment” (MedicineNet).…

    • 694 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A commonly held assumption is that children are bound to be very similar to their parents. While there is some truth in this, scientific research shows that genetic considerations do not entirely determine outcomes for individual development. From week 4 all the way to week 6 we have been reading different articles in regards to the different levels of contributions and influences that nature and nurturing have on individual development. Comprehensive clinical studies show that adverse conditions in early life can severely impact the developing brain and increase vulnerability to mood disorders later in life" (Murgatroyd, & Spengler, 2011).…

    • 1360 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Introduction The argument of nature vs. nurture has been one of the oldest and one of the largest controversies on whether our influences come from our genes (nature) or environmental factors (nurture), and how it could affect our behavioral, appearances, development, and our personality. These two play a big role in the human development. This argument will always exist on what is said about the human development. Scientists have not been able to sort this argument out and decide which one rules out the other.…

    • 778 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The controversy of nature versus nurture has been an active debate among the psychological community for decades. Nature, a side of this debate, is defined by the genetic code of a human, which utilizes DNA and biological connections in order to accurately demonstrate the importance of the development of a human being. The aspect of nature specifically centers on features that are innate. For instance, our genetic make-up, unchanging attributes, and physical predispositions are examples of factors that nature examines during the development of a person. Nature plays a major role when it comes to understanding the motives and views behind a serial killer.…

    • 737 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sociology – Unit 2 Assignment Unit 2 Assignment is worth 50 points Assignment - Chapters Three and Four Part I - Discuss the "nature versus nurture" argument and provide support for each aspect of the controversy. “Nature versus nurture” is a concept within psychology whereby the extend of which aspects of behavior is inherited or acquired. Human behavior is largely influenced bu both of these factors when it comes to behavior. There are characteristics that we inherit and others that we develop, depending on or environment and experiences.…

    • 637 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays