Nature & Nuture

“Nature and Nurture”



“A child is born with the potential ability to learn Chinese or Swahili, play a kazoo, climb a tree, make a strudel or a birdhouse, take pleasure in finding the coordinates of a star. Genetic inheritance determines a child's abilities and weaknesses. But those who raise a child call forth from that matrix the traits and talents they consider important.”
EmilieBuchwald

Regardless, everyone has heard the famous phrase “You have your mother’s/father’s...”. But what lies behind this famous line? What is the deciding factor of a person’s social, intellectual and psychological traits? Is a person born naturally with a predetermined personality, or is it nurtured through his or her life? Questions like these are what directly fuel the controversial topic ofhuman development simply referred to as, “nature or nurture”.

Basic human biology (ie. The Birds and Bees) states that it takes two humans, one male and one female, to form another human life. This human life is normally born with a standard number of chromosomes, forty-six to be exact, half of them from the mother’s side and the other from the father’s side. These chromosome determine theoverall genetic makeup of this new human being and give him certain traits that make him unique. But, what exactly can we attribute to the genetic makeup?

For starters, we can attribute certain physical traits to inherited genes. For example, a chromosome can contain certain genes that will determine eye color on this new life. Other chromosomes may provide the genes necessary to determine traitssuch as: skin pigment, the ability of being able to “roll” one's tongue, and even the ability to be able to taste a chemical known as PTC (phenylthiocarbamide). Truly the gene is a very crucial part in determining what one is as soon as one exits our mother’s womb. Therefore, the question remains, to what extent can one give credit to our genetic makeup for our traits and attributes?

As soon asthe discussion leaves biology and genetics behind, it enters a totally different area: environmental psychology. If genes play a large part in a man's character then twins may well as be completely identical, but as we all know they are commonly not. The key psychological differences in twins stem from the fact that the other side of the coin, in determining what a person is, is the environment.The environment, that is to say the person’s surroundings, plays a grand part in a human’s characteristics.

For example, two identical twins may have the similar genetic make-ups but have a completely different height and weight. In the case of height and weight, they are substantially controlled by genetics, but they are completely governed by the environment. Fingerprints are another verycommon difference in identical twins.
Therefore, if we are blank slates and the environment determines what we are, what can explain the case of the famous “Jim Twins”? Jim Springer and Jim Lewis were both twins that were given up for adoption separately. They both were the same weight and height, had both named their family dog “Toy”, married and divorced women named Linda, remarried women namedBetty, named both of their sons James, worked as part-time sheriffs, enjoyed home carpentry, suffered severe headaches, enjoyed Salem cigarettes, and drank Miller Lite beer. The only difference was their hair style! Two twins, complete strangers from each other, yet similar in every imaginable way. Although one cannot explain the fact that these two men unknowingly shared the same path in life, wecan however conclude that genes play a major role in the human being.

In other case studies of twins that have been separated at birth, one can observe that certain (but not all) traits can be attributed to genes. The extent in which a trait is attributed to genetics is called “heritability”. In these studies conducted by Dr. Thomas Bouchard, Jr. and his research team, they concluded that...