Sunday 7 November 2010

NATURE VS NURTURE

Okay, I struggled with this one, but if the question comes out in the exam, this is how I'm gonna do it..

Question
Which plays a bigger role in determining who and why we are?
Nature or Nurture?


(I'll start with the definitions of both)


1. Nature refers to our genetic disposition that we are born with. For example, our genes that determine our

  • hair colour, 
  • what disease we may suffer from
2. Nurture on the other hand refers to how we are raised after birth. Factors include
  • the environment
  • the society

Nature and nurture play very important roles in determining what kind of human beings we become.

the conflict arises when scientists cannot agree on which plays the bigger role.
(okay my stand and topic statement)
in my opinion, nurturing ultimately shapes who we become.

We may inherit characteristics like stubbornness or laziness from our parents, but I believe that if we are raised in an environment that does not give us the chance to be so, we will not have those behaviours.
(support with example)
Let us take the example of feral children or children raised in isolation from human society.
Genie, not her real name, was discovered at the age of 13 after being confined to potty chair in a tiny room her whole life. she could not talk, walk, smile, or laugh simply because she hadn't been exposed to a reason to. (get to the point, stop crapping)
my point here is, even though she was born with the ability to talk and laugh (nature) she could not because of the condition she was brought up in (nurture)

SO NURTURE WINS???

wait ah
(not enough)

Secondly, I believe nurturing rather than nature determines what skills we posses. although some may say, "your football skills come from your father" I believe, it is because the son plays football a lot, not because he got the skills from his father.

Lets take the hypothetical situation of parents who had three sons raised in different surroundings. (don't get too crazy)

Boy raised in jungle VS boy raised in desert VS boy raised at home

All 3 are monkeys! HAHA okay....just a joke

*jungle boy may have super climbing skills
*desert boy may be able to withstand long periods without water
*home boy knows how to fix a lightbulb

so you see how the environment affects the skills we develop? (don't ask questions in the essay)

In conclusion, although both nature and nurture are components that make up a man, I opine that it is the nurturing that we receive that plays a more dominant role in the question of who we are.


TADAA!!

other examples you can use.

1. There is no rape gene, rapists become rapists because of the environment they were raised in

2. No cleanliness gene. Singapore clean, Malaysia dirty not because, malaysians are cacat and don't have clean gene but because of values instilled into us.

3 comments:

Notyourcupoftea said...

good one!!!
i think i dun need d notes!!ur notes r enuf for me =]
thanx alot!!!

arepRuz said...

camni bru aku phm......gna ayat2 simple je da r....hahaha

lizamaria said...

oh okay thanks guys...=D glad to know it was helpful