Nature vs Nurture!

Anne aka Mags: Where do you stand on this? Does our environment affect/change the way we behave? Or is it something inbuilt into our DNA that cannot be changed regardless of the environment?

For me, I think it is both as while we do have individual traits that influence the way we behave, the way we are raised can also influence the choices we make.

NB: started this topic after posting on another (born knowing?)

flashie: id agree its both.

and i'd say the 'nurture' (manipulation) part is much more prevalent than we realise, i.e. foreign governments dividing up maps and deliberately placing groups of ppl next to each other knowing it will cause fireworks is just one tiny example.

another example is education and its lies and truths taught in schools etc.

StuckInTheSixties: Both.

Comrade_: I was thinking they are both involved, but someone told me their perspective, that we were born neutral to bad and good, but by choice we chose which side
(that is generally, not the special cases with psychopaths and other mental disorders)

Anne aka Mags: I would like to add that I have seen some doco's dedicated to researching this topic. The subjects they used were identical twins, separated at birth or at a very young age!

What I remember is that many of these twins lived identical lives, unaware of what the other had done. For example, one set of twins had followed identical career paths, married women with the same names and had children with the same names!

On the other hand, another set had gone in completely different ways, with one of them in prison for life for murder, while the other was living a wholesome life.

Morsy: Both.....we have upbringing, families, schools, work, where we live or lived all environmental which either was/is nurturing, or not, plus our DNA.

StuckInTheSixties: Mag, your question is rooted in psychology, which is what makes the answer so difficult, essentially unanswerable. Psychology, at least when applied to individuals (or twins), is at best, subjective, at worst, totally bullshit.

Psychology works well when you apply it to the behavior of large groups of people. It's the basis for advertising, for effective political campaigns, for insurance rates, and things like that. It can be very a very accurate tool when applied to large groups of people. But when applied to individuals, the same evidence can be viewed by different psychologists, and diametrically opposing conclusions can be made. When used in this basis, psychology doesn't even (in my humble opinion) fit the definition of "science." It can be valuable, but also destructive. It's not like science, where you can repeat the experiment and expect exactly the same results.

It's just too complicated.

So I'm afraid that your question really doesn't have a very definitive answer. Most people seem to agree that both nature and nurture both play a part in who and what we become, but I don't think we can logically have a much better defined answer than that.

Morsy: Exactly and well said.....

Anne aka Mags: SITS I never thought there would be a definitive answer. I was just curious about what people thought.

I was hoping for responses from people who were adamant one way or another, but that hasn't been the case! Oh well!

StuckInTheSixties: I've learned, Mag, that when I post a thread really hoping for a certain style of discussion, some real light being shed, and a good, valuable exchange of ideas ...

... it just rarely happens. It's the nature of this sort of forum for exchanging ideas. It does have value, but it rarely meets expectations that I have when I post them. In fact, I posted one today where I had just the sort of expectations we're talking about, something that would leave me satisfied that a nice, lively, valid exchange of ideas had taken place.

It went pfft ...

(laughs)

Anne aka Mags: lol I've been following it! I haven't contributed cos I have no input to make without making myself look like a duffus!

StuckInTheSixties: It didn't totally die, but it's flopping around like a fish.

Anne aka Mags: LOL
Hey I've been waiting for you to try my mystery blogs!

StuckInTheSixties: I'll have a look. But not now. Dinnertime!

tijana99: Our DNA code determine who we,but our world is based of our surroundings and experiences .So it is mostly your potential will be inhibit or catalyzed by environmental output.

TactiC4lTurtle: Nature is the gasoline and nature is the fire. You can't put out flamers by trying to isolate the 2 factors once they've started
(i'm just replying non-sense to gain rep )

StuckInTheSixties: You succeeded in replying nonsense, but failed in gaining rep.