Nature or Nurture? Which side do you fall on?

[cags]

And how much research or knowledge do you have on the subject? Do you choose one because you like the concept better than the other, or do you choose because you have done research on the subject.

I used to lean one way, but after some extensive research I lean the other way now.

[DrWeird]

1. I have enough knowledge to know...

that it depends on what they fuck you're talking about.

[LisaLynne]

2. Hey, that's the entire purpose of an education.

To know it always depends on what somebody is talking about. And mind if I start spontaneously using that line? :)

[cags]

12. I was deliberately not being specific,

I wanted to know in general what side others felt had more weight in the way we turn out.

[intheflow]

3. The universe is too complicated

to be locked into either/or statements about human development. We have start moving out of thinking in dualistic ways if our species and planet is to survive. The answer is "both."

[AlienGirl]

4. Both/and...

The "ands" in this case including choices made by the individual, along with something I'll just call X.

Tucker

[OhioBlue]

5. I have no expertise

but just from observing children - the answer undoubtedly that both play a role. I have seen children in the same environment exhibit completely different personalities. I have also seen children with personality traits just like a parent - even if they didn't grow up with that parent. That being said, life is a journey and that journey helps create the person.

[cali]

6. anyone who doesn't recognize that it's not an

either/or proposition, isn't thinking.

[Deja Q]

7. Nuture. We're human. Supposed to be better.

Oops.

[justiceischeap]

8. If you're referring to being gay...

I say it's nature. Being gay myself, I'd certainly say my parents didn't "nurture" me into it.

I remember in 2nd grade having a crush on my teacher. It's just always been there for me.

I think some people (I'm guessing mostly women here) do make the conscience decision to be with someone of the same sex. I've found in a very unscientific manner, that most of these woman were not "nurtured" by men in their lives (ie. beaten, molested, raped) and chose to be with women out of safety and fear.

[cags]

11. I'm not referring to being gay

I left out what I had in mind for a reason. I wanted to see what most people would say in general before I gave it a specific.

Not being gay myself, but having gay family members I 100% believe it is nature.

[Lisabtrucking]

25. Here is an explanation on Nature and Nurture.

Nature or Nurturer issue. For centuries, philosophers debated which was more important: the inborn nature of the individual or the impact of environmental influences that nurture the individual. Psychologists continue to focus on this question, which today is usually framed in terms of heredity (nature) versus environment (nurture).

[rman]

9. is it either-or? i think it's both

which way do you lean anyway?

[cags]

14. I also believe it is both, but I think one has a little more weight.

[rman]

26. why don't you say which one?

and why not elaborate on the findings that resulted from your extensive research?

[cags]

28. I believe nature plays a much bigger role than nurture does

I used to believe before I studied the subject that the way we are nurtured or taught as children strongly influenced our behavior and choices as adults.

If you look at America alone its easy to say that. But when you study the subject worldwide, and look at adoption and twin studies, I just could no longer deny that nature has much more weight than nurture.

I really do believe now that men and women have innate abilities and desires that are different between the sexes. Now of course there are exceptions, and I'm not saying men and women are not capable of certain things, but that they desire different things out of life, and that affects the choices we make for ourselves much more than the way we were nurtured as children.

[orpupilofnature57]

10. Both, only trait's of Liberal minded, Security soccer mom=

Dominion theocracy.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

13. 90 % nurture 10% nature

i have extensive knowledge of both biology and sociology

[Swamp Rat]

15. "Narture"

[cally]

16. Both..equally but it depends on the trait

Sexual orientation is nature...sometimes weirdly physical gestures are nature...physical adeptness is nature. Intellectual aptitude is nature.

Nurture is all that you are. Using what you have and loving another. That's nurture.

[cags]

17. OK, All of you who said both,

Do you still think that applies to the careers choices men and women make for themselves?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

20. no, i think thats nurture

women are taught very early on to be passive and compromising...and they are discouraged in math and science...it explains the mostly pink collar work women end up doing

[cags]

21. Do you think that applies worldwide or are you speaking only of America?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

23. the studies i have seen referenced are American.

in india these things differ by social class as well.

[cags]

29. You should study it worldwide,

It might change your 90/10 conclusions. I used to believe that also. and since you have studied biology and sociology you would probably find it very interesting. I also suggest adoption and twin studies.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

31. i have looked at adoption and twin studies.

and i still stick to my 90/10 beliefs over most issues

[SmokingJacket]

18. Depends ENTIRELY on what you're talking about.

Eye color? Nature.

Manners? Nurture.

Ability to play a musical instrument well relies perhaps on inborn talent, but also on many years of practice.

I can't see how you can be sweeping and say one matters and the other doesn't. They both do, in different amounts, for different things.

[Nikia]

19. Humans are the most learning oriented animal

At least according to my biology professor. Many animals are born with a lot of instinctual knowledge. They are born knowing what a predator looks like. They are born knowing what food is. They are born knowing courtship and sex behaviors. Humans are born with much less instinct. We have to learn a lot of things. As a result, much of our behavior is learned. This behavior can be learned from multiple sources.
We are born though with naturual inclinations and strengths. We aren't completely molded by our environment.

[HeatherG.]

22. nature

I have read alot about the subject in Psychology and Sociology books. For some reason I was interested in Psychology when I was in my early teens. I am currently reading As Nature Made Him which is a break from the political books I usually read. I have watched my nephews grow. I noticed a very distinct personality in the older one very early on. He didn't make alot of eye-contact as a baby. He was messing with the VCR as a toddler, and would keep running back and forth from the TV to the fridge. When I took pictures of him as a toddler he would sometimes spontaneously do these creative poses. He would say my name only, but then stopped talking altogether untill he he was 2 1/2. I frequently attempted to read to him, and get him to develop a love of language. It didn't work. Today, as a 9 year old he still has an incredible amount of energy, he talks alot but he is inarticulate even for an 9 year old, he is creative and likes taking pictures and making home movies, he is obsessed with things like Yu-Gi-Oh and has trouble making friends. Parents are important, but I have given up on the idea that children are born as blank slates.

[Lisabtrucking]

24. I'm Nurture, My surroundings play a big part in how I view things

and my feelings about life itself. My mother did a great job with the nature part, She practiced healthy behavior when she was pregnant with me.

[Sentath]

27. Neither. Potential and Development

are the things that I believe in.

BS Comp Sci / Info Sys, qualify for minors in Edu, Math, and Psych

[patcox2]

30. Both sides. Do we have to engage in manichean polarization everywhere?

Really, I am beginning to hate all the black and whiting that goes on in this very gray world.

Have a child and you will see what an even mix of the two it is. They definitely are born with their temperment, much of their character, and much of their personality. But as you parent them, you can see that you can change them, to a degree, in certain areas.

I am amazed by some of the character traits that I believe are inherited. Sociopathy shows signs of being inherited, so selfish liars often have selfish liar children.