An essay on Nature Vs Nurture

Sample essay - Shedding the view of Nature vs Nurture with an enlightening angle of their interdependence

We humans are the most cultured animals on this earth. We have learnt these cultures and mannerisms over a period of time. Adam and Eve did not know how to eat with a fork and knife. It is just with time, need and environmental changes that has helped us reach the present era of constant technological development. However, not every characteristic that we possess is due to environmental changes, many are due to the biological factors that we hail from our parents. This is where the debate of nature Vs Nurture comes into existence. This essay talks about the two very different views, their relationship and how these views impact the ideology of the people towards life.

First the very difference between nature vs nurture is that nature they say is the qualities we as humans inherit from our biological parents. Whereas, nurture is the environmental impacts that we adapt from around us. The exact effects of nature can be seen in the form of eye color, body shape, height, skin colour and many others. However nurture effects can be eminently witnessed through human behaviour, societal outlook or even the varied aspects of health. Though, there is no precise aspect that is said to surely pass on through nature or nurture. Some people say health problems are due to nature, while some say it is the environmental factors which lay a strong impact on health. Thus, there has been no alignment in the views of the people, especially the ones who debate upon nature Vs nurture.

Talking about nature, there are certainly few aspects which largely depend entirely on the biological factors that a child inherits from his parents. These include the eye color, height, skin color or even some particular physical features. There are also times when we inherit intelligence, personality types and many other genetic characteristics from our parents. These are basically the biological features that we receive from our parents. These small impressions help us form an independent identity in the society. These actually form the basis to the structure of our personality. There is no question that nature plays a crucial role in defining our personality. It is actually the foundation on which the other factors then mark their influence and help in shaping your actual personality. Some additional features like courage, determination, strong headed, stubbornness, daring or even cowardness, fear and meek behaviour is sometimes an attribute of the genetic transmission of qualities.

Moving further towards nurture. It would be no wrong to say that nurture is one step ahead of nature. It is the right nurture that helps us persist our values and sustain them throughout our lifetime. In fact nurture walks hand in hand with nature, right from the beginning of a child’s conception. It is said that the type of music, the mother listens to during her pregnancy, is the one which her child develops an interest for, even after his birth. Further, the environmental conditions, social relationships and the cultures followed in the surroundings, makes the real personality of the person. These actually define the religious and cultural values of a person. As it is rightly said, no one is born Christian or Hindu, it is after our birth that we wear the costume of our religious customs. Thus, the impact of nurture is evident throughout our lifetime. Moreover, the nurture values keep on changing as we keep moving forward in our life. In fact, there has been a study which found that nature and nurture work together in the developmental process. This is quite different from the debate views, but is surely an enlightening factor which gives a new angle to this discussion.

("How do nature and nurture work together", 2020)

Furthermore, though nurture keeps on impacting our external values and continuously directs us towards our goal, we still remain highly influenced by our internal values- the nature. For instance if you are a good human being but due to some external forces, you got diverted from your nature of goodness, and started participating in unethical acts to earn better money. Then, you can not carry forward this profession for a longer term. It is after sometime that your very nature, the natural instincts of your personality will call you back. You will somehow retrieve those qualities again and get back to your path of honesty and kindness. This is where the importance of the values you have learnt in your mother's womb actually reflect. This proves that the effect of nurture is temporary, whereas nature manifests your true self. In fact, during the course of our life, we tend to change our route of career quite often, which is again a reflection of our external environment. Moreover, with the travel route we cover during our lifetime, it introduces us to continuous transformations. These changes are highly advantageous for our growth and actually guide us to the future achievements. Manytimes, these turn out to be the learning lessons which keep leading us through our life journey. As studied by Daniel John Zizzo, there is a relationship of interdependence between nature and nurture. He has clearly mentioned the details of his study in the paper, “Empirical evidence on interdependent preferences: nature or nurture?”

(Zizzo, 2003)

To conclude it can be said that nature and nurture are two defining factors of our personality. It is the combined result of these two aspects that help a person to actually define his true personality. Though there are different views of people on the factors that come from nature or nurture. The debate is never ending. However, this interdependent view of nature vs nurture is also important to consider. It is actually the route to end the debate and bring closure to the varying statements. Therefore, rather than fighting on the view, we should try to understand the respective importance and place of nature and nurture in our course of life, beginning from childhood to maturity.