ATAR Notes: Forum

General Discussion => General Discussion Boards => Rants and Debate => Topic started by: heart on September 25, 2012, 09:58:43 pm

Title: nature or nuture?
Post by: heart on September 25, 2012, 09:58:43 pm
which underlying defines who we are? Is it our genetic make up or inexorably a manifestation of intention? Do we create the path or was it always set?
Title: Re: nature or nuture?
Post by: RTandon on September 25, 2012, 10:00:03 pm
I think it's both.
Title: Re: nature or nuture?
Post by: heart on September 25, 2012, 10:02:11 pm
substantiate the claim please need some ideas!
Title: Re: nature or nuture?
Post by: Water on September 25, 2012, 10:05:20 pm
substantiate the claim please need some ideas!

Is this a University Assignment? Or a High school Assignment?

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Title: Re: nature or nuture?
Post by: Starlight on September 25, 2012, 10:05:35 pm
Yeah, definitely both.

For example, males are more likely to engage in reckless behaviour than females however through a good upbringing, and being around the right kind of people, they would be less likely to do so.
Title: Re: nature or nuture?
Post by: heart on September 25, 2012, 10:07:48 pm
no assignments just taking a break from trials and trying to get different insights into the English context.
Title: Re: nature or nuture?
Post by: Felicity Wishes on September 25, 2012, 10:08:38 pm
Both for sure. Our genes provide some things but our experience guides us. For example, our genes provide us with some traits that make up our personality but our experience can help nuture these already given traits, or it can alter them. See Bandura's work on aggression if you are interested in what experience can do.

In terms of mental illness, genes create our vulnerability to certain illnesses or whatnot, but it is things like drugs or the way we were parented that influence whether we develop that illness.
Title: Re: nature or nuture?
Post by: Tomw2 on September 25, 2012, 10:49:44 pm
which underlying defines who we are?

I think it's both.


substantiate the claim please need some ideas!

I'm not even sure the claim even needs to be substantiated. It's as close to a psychological and physiological law as you can get. Obviously it's both.

IMO the more interesting, relevant and challenging question is - for a given behaviour or human phenomena, to what degree does nature or nurture contribute?

Broad, unspecified "nature vs nurture?" discussions inevitably end up grossly oversimplifying everything!
Title: Re: nature or nuture?
Post by: HighLatency on September 25, 2012, 11:34:25 pm
which underlying defines who we are? Is it our genetic make up or inexorably a manifestation of intention? Do we create the path or was it always set?

Assuming you don't have any mental conditions I would say mostly environmental factors in growing up, so nurture.
People are not born good or evil.
Title: Re: nature or nuture?
Post by: JellyDonut on September 25, 2012, 11:48:05 pm
A quick wikipedia search on the subject would show that this debate is kinda antiquated.
Title: Re: nature or nuture?
Post by: Tomw2 on September 26, 2012, 09:40:47 am
^agreed
Title: Re: nature or nuture?
Post by: Eriny on September 26, 2012, 10:36:36 am
I guess it depends on what aspect of one's personality/behaviour/health you're talking about. It must be both, but to what extent is unknowable because there are too many variables to do a test on it.