Apparently, French people have been debating this one since the 13th Century, which is a long time. They were way ahead of me, Bella, who had bloggers block followed by a small idea at 9:42 GMT, this morning. It's pretty obvious that there is a line somewhere - we're probably not all born programmed to live a certain way and make certain decisions, and there is definitely something genetic there also - but where do we draw it.
I'm in the group that would really rather lean towards Nurture - I don't like the idea that the decisions I make and the way that I act were predetermined by the strands of DNA that were randomly selected during my development. If were to place all of the weight on Nature theorems, we could face issues such as -
- "behavioral genes" being used to excuse crimes, et cetera. "I didn't want to rape her, but considering I am entirely made up of my genes, I had no choice!"
However, it is quite clear that genetics play a part, and a large one at that. Studies done on fraternal twins, reared under the same contiditions would be alike, regardless of genes. However, they also show the same striking similarities when raised separately. Similar studies have been done with identical twins, with pretty much the same results.
James Arthur Springer and James Edward Lewis (depicted left), had just been reunited at age 39 after being given up by their mother and adopted out as 1-month-olds. Springer and Lewis, both Ohioans, found they had each married and divorced a woman named Linda and remarried a Betty. They both had interests and careers in mechanical drawing and carpentry, at school they had both like maths the best and had both hated spelling the most. They smoked and drank the same amount and got headaches at the same time of day.
Another compelling case study was that of Oskar Stohr and Jack Yufe. Whilst when I originally read the files, they seemed to support the nurture theory, they later proved just the opposite. They were separated six months after their birth, Oskar was raised a Catholic in Germany and joined the Hitler Youth. Jack stayed behind in the Caribbean, his birthplace and was brought up Jewish, living for a while in Israel. The polar opposite qualities of their lives, however, were proved not to have altered them so - when they were reunited at the age of 9, they had similar speech and though patterns, similar gaits, a taste for spicy food and the same peculiar habits, such as flushing the toilet before they used it.
However, nurture also seems to play apart. The case study above did highlight some interesting similarities, but it also missed some key differences. Oskar was a part of the Hitler Youth, and had been indoctrinated into Nazi ideals - he feared and disliked Judaism, whereas to Jack, Judaism was a large part of his believe system and a large part of who he was.
Whilst few nurture believers complete discount genetic tendencies and similarities, they generally believe that they do no ultimately matter.Studies on infant and child temperament have revealed the most crucial evidence for nurture theories.
The contraversial "Little Albert" experiments performed by John Watson, showed that phobias could be explained by classical conditioning. "A strong proponent of environmental learning, he said: Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select...regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations and race of his ancestors."
One of the most clear "nurture affected factors" appears to be sense of humour. Sense of humour is ultimately decided by familial, platonic and cultural influences, and is not genetically determined. This is why many children pick up a sense of humour at school, especially dark humour and sarcasm, which their parents have never displayed and find distasteful.
Whilst twin studies appear to be one of the most compelling arguments for nature, they also give some of the most compelling evidence for nurture. If our traits were entirely predetermined, then identical twins would not only have similar tendencies - they would be exactly the same person.
Which side of the fence are you on?
Bella xx
James Arthur Springer and James Edward Lewis (depicted left), had just been reunited at age 39 after being given up by their mother and adopted out as 1-month-olds. Springer and Lewis, both Ohioans, found they had each married and divorced a woman named Linda and remarried a Betty. They both had interests and careers in mechanical drawing and carpentry, at school they had both like maths the best and had both hated spelling the most. They smoked and drank the same amount and got headaches at the same time of day.Another compelling case study was that of Oskar Stohr and Jack Yufe. Whilst when I originally read the files, they seemed to support the nurture theory, they later proved just the opposite. They were separated six months after their birth, Oskar was raised a Catholic in Germany and joined the Hitler Youth. Jack stayed behind in the Caribbean, his birthplace and was brought up Jewish, living for a while in Israel. The polar opposite qualities of their lives, however, were proved not to have altered them so - when they were reunited at the age of 9, they had similar speech and though patterns, similar gaits, a taste for spicy food and the same peculiar habits, such as flushing the toilet before they used it.
However, nurture also seems to play apart. The case study above did highlight some interesting similarities, but it also missed some key differences. Oskar was a part of the Hitler Youth, and had been indoctrinated into Nazi ideals - he feared and disliked Judaism, whereas to Jack, Judaism was a large part of his believe system and a large part of who he was.
Whilst few nurture believers complete discount genetic tendencies and similarities, they generally believe that they do no ultimately matter.Studies on infant and child temperament have revealed the most crucial evidence for nurture theories.
The contraversial "Little Albert" experiments performed by John Watson, showed that phobias could be explained by classical conditioning. "A strong proponent of environmental learning, he said: Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select...regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations and race of his ancestors."
One of the most clear "nurture affected factors" appears to be sense of humour. Sense of humour is ultimately decided by familial, platonic and cultural influences, and is not genetically determined. This is why many children pick up a sense of humour at school, especially dark humour and sarcasm, which their parents have never displayed and find distasteful.
Whilst twin studies appear to be one of the most compelling arguments for nature, they also give some of the most compelling evidence for nurture. If our traits were entirely predetermined, then identical twins would not only have similar tendencies - they would be exactly the same person.
Which side of the fence are you on?
Bella xx
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