Psychology 30
Ms. MacPherson
Sept. 26, 2017
Nature vs Nurture
There has been a question that has been the target of much debate for centuries; does nature or nurture have a greater influence on us humans? Nature is what we have inherited through our genes and it is something that (sometimes) cannot be changed. Nurture is the aspect of how people are raised and the experiences we face that shape us into who we personality-wise. This debate has proven to be very with all the evidence supporting both side. For example, David was nurtured into believing he was a girl, but ultimately gave into his natural gender, which was a boy. Nurture has also been supported as it has been shown that very violent criminals were raised with neglect …show more content…
Just like nature, there are many people who choose this side of the argument. Going back to the Brenda Reimer case, it was a big break-out for nurture’s side as Dr. Money had made a theory that we are all gender-neutral from ages 0-3 and that you can be nurtured to the point that nature is irrelevant. Even though the experiment wasn’t successful, it made many look at the aspect of nurture differently. Oxford University neuroscientist Baroness Susan Greenfield are one of the many individuals who favour nurture when it comes to our personality and who we become as she claims that; “We, as human beings, are very dependant on our environment,” and “We’re freed up from the tyranny of our genes so that we can actually benefit from experiences and adapt to our environment,” Davies, K. (2001, April 17). Nature vs. Nurture Revisited. Retrieved September 28, 2017, from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/nature-versus-nurture-revisited.html. Another case that help support this side is the Genie case. While confined for 13 years with little to no contact from other people, had little to look at, and never learned how to talk, Genie made large amounts of progress in her first few years out of her isolation. Humans tend to gain our personalities via experiences and learning from different people, it isn’t always just our genes that decide that for us. People can change and it’s the things we go through that shape our unique, one-of-a-kind