Week 4: Nature vs. Nurture

Nature endows us with inborn abilities and traits while nurture shapes our genetic tendencies as we grow and mature. It is true that our DNA definitely has a role in shaping on how intelligent we are or how our personalities shape up as we grow. However, I believe that Nurture plays a larger role in defining who we are and how we behave and interact at the end of the day. For instance, if environment didn't play a part then ideally identical twins should be exactly same in all aspects! I believe our families, their upbringing, education, religion, peer groups, media and other such social factors play a very significant role in shaping our personality. As mentioned in the book, the unsocialized children namely the 'Wild Boy of Aveyron' and 'Genie' are examples of how different a human beings can be when prevented from interacting with the society. Furthermore, violent, aggressive, alcoholic or a sexually pervert person is not born that way; his experiences in life with family, peer groups and other such agents of socialization makes him like that. How a child behaves and reacts to situations and circumstances depends on how his parents, friends or teachers might have reacted to a similar situation or what they might have asked him to do in a situation like that. So to what extent are we a product of Nature or Nurture depends on how the two interact and not just one factor.