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The classic questions: nature or nurture? Genetics or blank slate?
    #10264472 -

May be biting off more than I can chew here but fuck it, I wanna hear you guys' takes on this:
Which attributes of human behavior do you feel are determined by innate characteristics, and which by social upbringing?

I used to have a pretty moderate stance on the subject, leaning towards genetics / innate nature, but now I'm not so sure. My thinking has fundamentally changed in the last year (coinciding with the period in which I started poking my toe into psychedelics use ... which probably ain't a coincidence). I don't mean just that I've changed my mind about nature vs. nurture, I mean literally the way I think and the personality traits which define me have shifted dramatically. I discovered that a lot of things I had assumed were innate characteristics of my self (for example introversion, low pain tolerance, whatever) were in fact just one way of going about living. I have since altered many of these characteristics.

Upon reflection, this seems to kick the legs out from under much of what I had seen as evidence of the "nature" side of the debate. Clearly, my brain is capable of different ways of thinking. At a minimum this suggests that attributes of personality which may have been genetically caused are nonetheless subject to environmental influence -- which to me seems to shift the whole debate heavily in favor of the "blank slate" camp. The more I learn about the brain, the more its inherent flexibility becomes obvious. If, through interacting with our environment we can dramatically change our patterns of behavior, what's left to be pre-determined by nature?


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Weedmaster P knows the truth.

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Re: The classic questions: nature or nurture? Genetics or blank slate? [Re: laserpig]
    #10264587 -

I'd say everyone has a basic genetic outline. Being smart is genetic, and intelligence effects personality, so right there, you have genetics influencing personality. In totality though, I would say that basic genetic things like intelligence, appearance and other genetic things influence the way you are seen and view yourself, but that you are actually shaped by "nurture."

I might not be making sense right now so here is an example:

Bill is smart. Due to his intelligence Bill's parents praise him and buy him whatever he wants. Bill grows up to be an asshole who think he is superior to everyone else. Bill's upbringing is the reason hes an asshole, but his upbringing was influenced by his genetics.


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"If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things through narrow chinks of his cavern." - William Blake

"Psychedelics helped me to escape.. albeit momentarily.. from the prison of my mind. It over-rode the habit patterns of thought and I was able to taste innocence again. Looking at sensations freshly without the conceptual overlay was very profound." - Ram Das

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Re: The classic questions: nature or nurture? Genetics or blank slate? [Re: teeter]
    #10264694 -

Yeah, the fact that it's all so interrelated makes it difficult to pick out definitive causes.


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Weedmaster P knows the truth.

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Re: The classic questions: nature or nurture? Genetics or blank slate? [Re: laserpig]
    #10264807 -

Very true. I think the fact that identical twins can have very different personalities (especially when separated at birth) proves that nurture plays a HUGE part, but the genetics do play a role.

I'd say formula is:

Nature */ Nurture = Personality

As in nature provides the basic foundation and then the way you are "nurtured" multiplies or divides that. If you look like an orc from Lord of the Rings, but your friends and family are nice to you about it, you nature is "divided" (drastically lessened) because of your nurture. On the other hand, it would be "multiplied" (drastically increased) if your friends and family shunned and teased you.


--------------------
"If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things through narrow chinks of his cavern." - William Blake

"Psychedelics helped me to escape.. albeit momentarily.. from the prison of my mind. It over-rode the habit patterns of thought and I was able to taste innocence again. Looking at sensations freshly without the conceptual overlay was very profound." - Ram Das

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
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General Interest > Philosophy, Sociology & Psychology
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