Nature vs. Nurture

Daphne Goodship and Barbara Hebert are identical twins that first met when they were 40 years old. The twins were separated at birth and adopted by two completely different families, Debbie Mehlman and Sharon Poset are identical twins who were separated at birth, brought up in different religions and practicing entirely different traditions. When Debbie and Sharon met for the first time they found that they had incredibly similar habits. When they get excited they both cross their eyes. Tom is from rural Kansas , raised Christian, Steve , raised as a Buddhist, lives in Philadelphia. Tom and Steve are identical twins, separated at birth, and met for the first time four years ago. Tom and Steve both own a body building gym and both men are 100% dedicated to fitness. Are these stories mere coincidence, or is it proof that our genetic makeup has more of a factor on our personality and overall social behavior versus the environment in which we were brought up in? “You have your mother’s eyes” and “Boy you are a spitting image of your father.” But where did we get our outgoing personalities and our incredibly natural intelligence. Do children learn these social behaviors and talents from their parents at a young age or was it all predetermined by our genes? It is quite clear that one’s physical characteristics are hereditary; however, the water gets murky when crossing the bridge of individual behaviors, intelligence, and personality. On that side of the spectrum no one can give a clear explanation for where exactly all these behaviors and talents are coming from. The age old argument of Nature Vs. Nurture has yet to reach a conclusion and scientists still do not yet know exactly how much of us is determined by our DNA and how much is determined by the environment we are raised in and our own life experiences. All that we do know is that both DNA and the environment play a part. Some scientists and researchers believe that people behave the way they do in result of their genetic makeup and even some humanistic instincts. This theory is known as the nature theory. The nature theory even takes a step further to say that our intelligence, personality, aggression and sexual orientation are also encoded in an individual’s DNA. The other side of the debate is known as the nurture theory of human behavior. These scientists believe that people think, act, behave, and learn the way they do because their parents taught them to do so. With a growing understanding of the human genome scientists have been able to conclude that both sides of the spectrum are correct for it is nature that hone these instincts and traits and then it is nurture that allows us to mature and put to use those genetic abilities.