Influence Of Nature And Nurture On Intelligence

Intelligence is viewed as the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills. Heredity and environment are two most important factors which influence the intelligence. Now the question arises, is the intelligence determined by nature or nurture? There is a great controversy between the influence of nature and nurture on the intelligence. Some people are of the view that intelligence is the result of traits passed by ancestor to descendant by genes and some people think that it is the environment that is accountable for intelligence. Earlier the intelligence is overrated by the scientist as the outcome of gene, but some studies carried out on intelligence has changed this view. Intelligence is equally impacted by both nature and nurture. …show more content…
Nature refers to the genes that are inherited from parents to their kids and it determines the human prospective. Nurture is the mixture of total external factors that influence us since our birth and helps to shape our potential. Intelligence is equally impacted by both nature and nurture. For example because of genes some people have similar traits as their parents have such as voice, musical talent, and people living near the sea learn swimming better than the people who live near the desert just because of the environment they get. Some people think that they are genetically smart and need not to work hard because they have superior genes. There are more possibilities that they may be hurt due to their thinking because nature and nurture both are equally important and always work together. There is a one more example of William’s sisters supporting the relation of nature and nurture. Venus and Serena are recognized worldwide as tennis superstars. Their success is not only due to the similar genes they have, but also because of the similar training and environment they have. “Individuals have only a few traits that are determined by genes alone like eye colour, hair colour and blood groups, but the traits such as height weight physical conditions are greatly affected by the environment” (Englbrecht). Human development and intelligence depends on the contribution of nature and nurture. They are relatively affecting human intellect. Gene/ environment relations are of three types. Passive correlation is the first one according to which if the parents have musical talents, then it is most likely to be passed on to their children through genes. Environment helps to promote and nourish that trait. Second one is evocative, which explains that people who are genetically distinct appear to have different reactions from peers and parents. They