Nature and Nurture: The Allied Powers

Even though our blog topic for the week is on “nature vs. nurture,” I don’t view the two as being in competition with one another.  Aspects from one’s nature and the nurture they receive combine to make up the complete person.  Nature dictates the essence of which one is and nurture influences the way one handles the situations he or she is faced with.  I think that nature kicks in by default when nurture isn’t a big contributing factor to a situation.  And on the inverse side of things, an abundance of nurture means that one will be less reliant on his or her personal nature.  I think it really depends on the person and their individual situation as to which aspect (either nature or nurture) reigns supreme. 

The bulk of my background is definitely in sociology, which is the subject that most people associate with the nurture side of the two.  I’ve only taken an introduction to psychology course, which is usually associated with the “nature side,” so it’s fair to say that I’ve had a lot more experience looking at situations from a viewpoint that examines social activity, while psychology looks at behavior.  But even though my academic focus is definitely more prominent in one area than the other, I don’t think that either nature or nurture is necessarily going to be the most prominent contributor in everyone.  Depending on the person, nature or nurture can dictate more or less of what makes up his or her complete person.  With some people, nature runs more prominent, and in others, nurture may run more prominent. 

I think that a lot of people, myself included, like to think that the things they do and the way that they think is mostly, if not completely in their nature.  Depending on how strong-willed someone is has a lot to do with which factor is more strongly represented in them.  However, stubbornness is something that can also be learned through nurture.  I think that nurture plays a larger role in our complete selves than we normally recognize.  But in the end, both factors have important roles to fill. 

I’m a fairly shy, quiet person by nature, but I’ve learned through nurture that sometimes I have to step out being quiet and shy if I want a chance to do many of the things I want to do, like sing and perform for an audience, for example.  Nurture hasn’t replaced nature, but it has altered nature to an extent. 

The nature vs. nurture debate is a continuing cycle.  Different situations bring out different aspects of our natures.  Aspects from both the “nature” and “nurture” sides affect who we are.  I think that in the end, neither nature nor nurture “wins,” because both work together and figure remarkably and importantly into what we think and how we act.