The nature-nurture debate is all about whether genetics (nature) or our environment (nurture) is responsible for our behaviour and development. Early theorists believed that our personality, intellect, behaviour and gender role were determined by our genes and therefore could not be changed. But an increasing amount of evidence has proved these theorists wrong, and our development as an individual is learnt through the environment we live in. One developmental stage of an individual that psychologists have the nature-nurture debate about is the intelligence stage. The nature side of that intelligence is present at birth and we already have a set amount of intelligence.
TOK Essay: Emotion vs. Reason Hamza Usmani- October 4, 2013 To what extent are intuition and emotion more effective than reasoning and logic in making/validating knowledge claims? Internationally acclaimed “TED Talks” speaker David Brooks stated in his lectures, “For centuries, we have inherited a view of human nature based on the notion that we are divided selves. Reason is separated from the emotions, and society progresses to the extent that reason can suppress the passions”. The notion that emotion and reason fight against each other amongst humans is a concept which has yet to be completely justified, however it is clearly demonstrable. It is commonly believed that human emotions, and gut-feelings/intuition, interfere with rational thinking, and so when making knowledge claims, these passions should be subdued.
So are our behavioral traits and characteristics learned and capable of change? Or are our behaviors innate and predetermined by our genetic makeup? Personally I believe a little bit of both theories; although some of our human traits are not subject to change, such as genetic qualities of hair and eye color, other characteristics like intelligence or athleticism, I believe, can be altered by human will power or choice. I do not believe human behavior is innate and that our lives are limited by genetic and biological factors. With the right environment, nurture, and determination I’m sure one can excel to their full capacity in traits such as intelligence or athleticism.
Nature vs Nurture Describe what the nature vs nurture debate is and say what you think has been the most important aspect for upbringing The term ‘Nature’ means what we genetically inherit for example eye colour, hair colour, skin colour etc. and the term ‘Nurture’ means how the environment influences us physically and mentally, for example, peer groups, media, education etc. However, there is a huge debate regarding both nature and nurture. Many people, especially scientists, suspected that nature influences our behaviour and lifestyle more than nurture. This is because there are many factors that are believed to be inherited by our parents such as intelligence and addictions.
I also believe nurture education plays the significant role in a person’s characteristics. In other words, the circumstances surrounding the person are more important to form its character. First of all, appropriate nurture can turn an average person to be competent. In “The Allegory of the Cave”, Plato states, "if there had been a circumcision of such natures in the days of their youth; and they had been severed from those sensual pleasure, such as eating and drinking, which, like leaden wights, were attached to them at their birth, and which drag them down and turn the vision of their souls upon the things that are below" (455). Plato suggests that the rogues might serve the good if they have different circumstances.
But now after doing research on this subject I've come to the conclusion that the area is grey, there is no right or wrong answer, there is still not one scientist with a definite answer. For example, the philosopher John Locke believed that everyone was born a tabula rasa or blank slate. He wrote essays explaining his view on how everyone was a slate that life left little scratches on from each human experience. There have been many who oppose this view though, such as Plato and Descartes. Both of these men believe, that to a certain extent, people have many innate traits.
27/10/2011 Evaluate the view that human behaviour is largely cultural Society is not so much established by conquest as by collusion (Berger.P.1967) Munford khan defines the concept of self as ‘denoting the core of the personality system organised around its awareness of itself and its conscious and unconscious towards its most virtual interests and values, involving identity, status, commitment and desire. Society today is so different to sometime ago. It was more or less written in stone that women were the child bearing home carers, and the men were the bread winners. Some of the early sociologists believed that our gender was inherited through our genes. Feminists argued that these findings were all down to men carrying out experiments on men.
Intelligence is from Nature or Nurture? Sometimes, we are dissatisfied with our intelligence like why I am not smart or why the person is so intelligence. From this I started to think where intelligence is from. Many people believe intelligence is from nature which is what we are born with. But in my opinion, intelligence is combined from Nature and Nurture.
Nature vs. Nurture Over the years, there has been a lot of controversy on whether or not genes that we inherit affect us and how we live, or if it is the environment that we have been raised in. There are many different reasons for why one is more correct than that other. But, all of the reasons can be backed up with very good evidence and reasoning. Personality, development, intelligence, behavior and ability to do certain things make us the individuals that we are. But what influences those things?
Intelligence has remained one of humanity’s greatest debates of all time. Every individual seems to view intelligence in a unique way, which makes it difficult just to find a satisfactory definition of intelligence. In general, intelligence encompasses cognitive processes such as perceiving, planning and problem solving. One aspect of intelligence that attracts many debates is whether it is innate or shaped by the environment. While some might disagree, numerous researches and reasoning have backed up the idea of intelligence being inherent.