Nature vs Nurture
Introduction Nature is an individual quality of a person.
It mainly originates from the innate of someone. Nurture on the other hand is a personal experience that mostly emanates from behavior. Nature and nurture determine individual differences in physical and behavioral traits. The paper explores nature versus nurture. This is done by analysis of issues raised on the topic. They include historical, scientific and modern approach, (Corley, 1997).
Historical Approach Historians have given elaborate explanations on nature versus nurture. Nurture has been historically referred to us the care given to children by parents. It has been linked to the upbringing of children. They claim that nurture include influences on development that arise from prenatal parental, extended family and peer experiences. Also included are media, marketing and socio-economic status. Human development is depends only on the environment and not hereditary influence.
This is according to John Locke who is an historian. He did not support the scientific concepts and challenged the world to believe his theory that human trait develops mainly through environmental influence. The scholar disputed the argument about nature and termed it as a mere empty slate, (Locke, 1704). Calvin Hall suggested that discussions opposing nature and nurture were fruitless. He is one of the oldest historians who gave ideas on the topic. Calvin argued that development of character can be affected by varying environments.
A change in environment leads to an alteration of heritable traits. At the same time if genetic composition of a population varies, then heritability may also change. He supported the idea of Locke that there was no need for science and the surrounding was just sufficient to build trait, (Calvin, 1947). According to the historical approach, behaior is determined by nurture and not nature. This is true because parental guidance and environment determine the character of a person right from birth to old age.
I therefore agree with the historical approach that nurture determines human trait. The facts put across are sufficient enough for such a conclusion to be made. Scientific Approach Scientists have also put across valid ideas on the topic. They have defined nature as behavior that originates from heritability. Nurture is behavior that arises from shared and non shared family factors. Shared factors make siblings similar.
None shared factors are the unique things that make children to be different in a family. Their understanding of nature versus nurture is different from that of the historians.According to science, the topic can be properly understood by the interaction of genes and environment. Genes is closely connected to nature and environment associated with nurture. The scientists allege that individual development of highly heritable traits like eye color depends on environmental factors.
During gene development, the physical variables like temperature and oxygen levels from other genes in organisms determine the final outcome. Hence variability of trait entirely depends on nature and nurture, (Spinath, 2006). In view of this approach, nature and nurture are related. Based on the explanations above from the scientists, I support the fact that trait is determined by both nature and nurture. This is because the development of genes naturally is affected by environmental change. As such any slight adjustment would proportionally influence the gene.
Modern Approach Modern approach refers to the contemporary ideas on nature versus nurture. Scholars have given different opinions. Some of them have suggested that human develop by nature where as others have insisted tthat behavior is only determined by environment and not nature. World scholars have criticized the topic. They strongly propose that nature and nurture cannot be compared.
The scholars emphasizes on nurture rather than nature. In this regard, they argue that behavior is entirely determined by environment. This is because an environment of wealth, education and social privilege are often passed to genetic offspring. Sociologists, anthropologists, politicians and psychologists also maintain that trait develops from nurture and not nature. They therefore urge the world to concentrate more on the surroundings and ignore heredity from the genes. Contrary to the fact that some scholars have assumed nature, others have suggested that trait is determined by nature.
These scholars mainly from the United States of America suggest that family influence cannot determine the character of people. Variance in families in the U.S is negligible. This makes family upbringing to have no noticeable influence on behavior. The scholars have added that nature is more important than nurture.
According to them, peer groups are more effective in behavior development compared to family effect, (Harris, 1998).From the discussion on modern approach, there are two major concerns. Scholars have given two conflicting opinions. The first group says that behavior depends on environment. The later argue that nature is the main determinant of trait.
Based on the two schools of thought, it is true that nurture is the key determinant of human behavior. This is because there are many points that support this fact from modern approach. In conclusion, the research on nature versus nurture shows that the two facts cannot be separated. From the three approaches and the issues raised, it is vivid that genes and environment should be interacted for traits to be developed properly. This is because variability of human character depends on genetic difference and environment.
