I was thinking today of a conversation i had with a teacher of mine a long time ago now. it was a biology class and she was going on about the whole nature versus nurture, i told her at the time that either one on its own is not important, i went on to talk about serial killers, how a partially damaged frontal lobe is an indicator to seriall killers, but i then went on to say that not all people with that type of damage turn out to be serial killers so logically speaking there has to be another facter, how they were nurtured as a child, the ones that were nurtured “wrong” turned out to be seriall killers, while those nurtured properly managed not to kill and live normal, fuffilled lifes. she didnt say much to that (personally i think she prefered to believe nature was more important) my nature may have me pre disposed to being depressed but… what if the way i am now is not just because of my nature, something which was out of my controll by the way. but what if the way i was raised is equally responsible for my depression, isit not fare to say that my parents and family are intirely responsible for my borderline bi polar state? i was born from their DNA, they raised me to be what i am today, wether on purpose or not my childhood at their hands, coupled with my nature, my make up, is responsible for what i am, what all of us are today is the product of our nature that was nurtured by parents who didnt nurture us right. if they had done so our nature would have addapted to fit how we were nurtured but the two were clearly in sinc, are we depressed because of our parents?
Anyonw see flaws in my reasoning? btw lack of mentioning of god or higher powers does not count and mention of said beings will be deleted, i would prefer free speach so please dont make me delete comments, that is if anyone bothers to comment or read this
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I don’t think nurture/nature ever stops – that is, that the organism ever stops adapting to it’s environment. I think there’s a conscious component to it that lets people choose how they adapt over time, within reason. It’s not all upbringing if you still have the capacity to change how you relate to the world around you. Aside from that, I tend to agree with you when you say that either by itself (nature/nurture) is not a complete picture.
Since I’m a firm believer in the nurture side of the equation, I’m inclined to agree. Certainly, using myself as an example, the way I was raised lead to the way I interacted with the world. The people I met, the environment I was in, changed the way I viewed the world. What I became.
I tend to believe that the picture is much more complex than simple nature. Usually.
I’d say both are equally important and you can only judge on a case to case basis, as you said you can have killers with no genetic predisposition for it and viceversa, so i don’t see flaws in your reasoning.
@lorax, i understand whagt your saying but would you agree that the formative years of your life, the ones where you learn how to live are the most influential?
@poisontongue so you say that nurtue is more important than nature? but if two different people are brough up in the same house who arnt related they usually wouldnt turn out the same way?
@keief thank you, so you follow the conclusion that our family are to credit for our depression?
Formative years are important – and they do generally set the course for the rest of a person’s life, but I think organisms in general are malleable and adaptive. Anyone and anything alive today is the product of something like 4 billion years of evolution from inorganic molecules to complex life. We are the champions of survival, winnowed through the flames of time and countless generations. That kind of reality can’t be claimed by creatures that are unable to adapt. Neuroplasticity is a concept that should rightly stand at the center of any discussion about nature/nurture.
@Procel: I do in part. And i have some other reasons to believe that as well… i mean, my mother has had depression tendencies all her life, my father too from what i can remember of him (haven’t seem him in years), both my sisters (half-sisters on my mother’s side) are depressive as well, but only the one that is more like my mother (looks and personality) developed a condition out of it. So i believe fully on the nature part of it.
But trying to explain the nurturing reasons coming from my family and enviroment would be difficult (since they come from several sources other than family), and at least in my case, i’m fully aware that those were a lot more avoidable by myself than the nature’s part of it (maybe not in very early years tho) and i just failed to do so, that’s also why i don’t blame them with anger, even if i do know they influenced heavily.
So i guess it’d be more accurate to say i credit my family/enviroment for my depression disposition/tendencies… yes, that sounds more accurate 😀
When speaking in terms of the Nature concept, I can fully see/understand that we are definitely born with the genetics that may or may not make us more inclin3d (see how badass I am for using a 3 for e?) to have certain mental health issues. But I also believe that to put the entire “blame” on our mental developments cannot singly be placed on our genetics alone. As several of you above have pointed out, our environments and life experiences , or the Nurture concept, will most surely influ3nc3 (there I go again, man I’m so boss-mode and egotistical) the depression and or anxiety present within us. So while our genetics may be the source cause of our mental health issues (in MOST cases, not all of course as I understand) I must say nurture alone cannot do the sole job of spawning, manipulating, and defeating the mental illnesses.
So I guess the shorter, better way of saying all that would:
Nature may start us up with a proneness to depression but Nurture definitely lends its fair share to how we handle and cope with it.
and where IS PainNife?
Hmmm interesting thread bro. Let me get some of this good green in me and I’ll ponder on it and give you a detailed response…