Nature Versus Nurture (Essay Sample)

Nature Versus Nurture: What Affects a Person More, Their Genes or Their Surroundings and The Way They Are Raised?
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Nature Versus Nurture: What Affects A Person More, Their Genes Or Their Surroundings And The Way They Are Raised?
The nature versus nurture debate is much alive in society with scientists trying to work out what exactly causes human beings to be the way they are. This phrase, nature versus nurture, was first coined in in its current English sense by Francis Galton, an English Victorian polymath, in a discussion in which he was attempting to explain the relationship between heredity, the environment and social advancement in people (Stiles, 2008, p. 3). A nature trait refers to a characteristic that an individual is born with, that is, it is inherited through their genetic make-up such eye color, height, hair color and skin tone. On the other hand, a nurture trait is one that a person develops as a result of their surroundings; an example of such a trait is being temperamental due to one’s surroundings- it is more of a behavioral aspect (Moore, 2003, p. 17). Overall, heredity and genetic make-up (nature) have been found to affect a person more in comparison to the way in which a person is raised and or their surroundings (nurture).
Joan Stiles (2008, p. 67) argues that the predominant determinant of the mind-set of a person is their surroundings rather than their genetic composition or their upbringing. She goes on to state that extensive research into the nurture versus nature debate has shown that the surroundings not only determine who, but also what, a person becomes. What this statement implies is that the surroundings also determine the various bodily features a person develops, such as the color of their eyes, skin or even hair. A person living in Tropical or Mediterranean lands is bound to develop adaptation features to help them deal with the all-year round humid and hot conditions. On the other hand, children born to mixed racial couples have been found to develop adaptation features to their homelands- if born in Asian or African nations, their skin and hair color tends to be darker than those born in Western countries.
The most contentious point in this debate, nonetheless, is intelligence. Scientists across the globe concur that intelligence is a precursor of a person’s genetic makeup. To accentuate this point, studies carried out on twins have successfully shown that all types of twins and biological siblings are more probable to possess almost similar levels of intelligence. From a scientific point of view, David Scott (2003, pp. 57-60) explains that the closer is this biological link, the higher is the similarity in intelligence levels. Even so, similarities in intelligence levels also exist between children raised in the same surroundings, though incomparable to the latter. According to Arthur Jensen’s research, ranging between 50% and 70% of a person’s genetic intelligence is influenced by their surroundings (as cited in Valli & Blackley, 2004, p. 102).
In addition to research by scientist on physical and intelligence characteristics, personality determinants have also been studied extensively. Scientist at Duke University believe that if an extrovert bores a child, then that child will inherit those extrovertism genes and become outgoing and sociable. The discovery of a gene affecting the brain’s chemistry has supported this claim, explaining why some individuals engage in risky activities such as sky diving while others do not. Essentially, studies on twins living apart have shown that multiple characteristics are similar between them- from political view points, ethical morals to the amount of time spent on the television. These findings have watered down the effect of the environment and the way in which a person is raised on the way they turn out.
As argued in Chapter 5 of Mental Disorders by Joan Stiles (2008), schizophrenia has been observed to posse...