Nature and Nurture: Equal Importance

For many years, the nature versus nurture philosophy was thought to be unequal and that one was superior to the other. Similar to the feminist ethics concept concerning the advancement of the truth that men and women are equal (Vaughn, 2018). I believe that nature versus nurture philosophies are equal. The nature versus nurture debate is the scientific, cultural, and philosophical debate about whether human culture, behavior, and personality are caused primarily by nature or nurture. Nature is the hormone driven behaviors of an individual and nurture is based on culture and experiences. Many scholars have argued about which one is superior, that is, nature or nurture. It is my belief that they equally impact our lives and our development as human beings.

There is a myriad of aspects, for example, genetics and environmental factors, that can affect the way an individual develops physically, mentally, and socially. The nature versus nurture debate came about because some psychologists believe that we are controlled by our environment, nurture, or our genes, nature. I believe that nature can influence nurture and vice versa, and that they both overlap when it comes to human development. According to Lewis and Palevitz, some people are unwilling to accept that there is a genetic influence on behavior than traits like eye color is. “We accept that we look like our parents and other blood relatives; we have a harder time with the idea that we also act like them” (Lewis & Palevitz, 1998). It is understandable that we can have physical traits similar to our relatives, but a lot of people deny the fact that we can act similar to them as well. The way we were raised, the people we grew up around both play part in how we develop as an individual. The people who do not believe that we can have genetically influenced behavior also do not believe that nurture can be used to enhance or reduce traits imparted by nature. For example, “someone could be born with genes to give them a normal height, but be malnourished in childhood, resulting in stunted growth and failure to develop as expected” (Lewis & Palevitz 1998). It has been proven that although nature can give an individual certain traits, nurture can affect those traits in either a negative or positive way.

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