BY CASSIE TULECKI
Who are we really? What shapes us into the people we are today? Is it the experiences we’ve been through and had to endure our entire lives until this point? Or are we shaped more by the traits we’ve inherited from family members.
The debate between nature and nurture has been raging for centuries. The debate centres on whether genetic inheritance or environmental factors contribute more to human development. Nature determines your eye colour, hair colour and even your behaviour and sexual preference, something you’re born with. The nurture side of things involves the way you were brought up, the environments you’re in and how you were raised.
If you have identical twins shouldn’t they be exactly the same if they have the exact same genes? Why do they always end up having completely different personalities? Both nature and nurture play a huge role in who we become.
Yes, genes make it more likely that you’ll act a certain way but we believe that the experiences you go through shape who you become more than anything else.
If one person grew up in a loving home surrounded by friends and received a good education they most likely would turn out differently from, say, a person who lost both parents and is struggling to get by.
The choices we make day-to-day are made based on how we were raised, not how we were put together genetically. If you have learned from experience that the stove is hot when it’s on, you won’t make the mistake of touching it when you’re older. How can genes help you understand that – it was the experience of being told it’s hot or even burning yourself on it that helped you learn.
Genes may make you a blue-eyed blond, but they don’t teach you about life; you learn about that the hard way through trial and error and by watching others.
The views herein represent the position of the newspaper, not necessarily the author.
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