Nature versus Nurture

Nature versus Nurture

Introduction

Human development and growth has been the central area of interest for psychologists as well as philosophers since quite some time. Two different schools of thought have emerged in this regard: one of them supporting the idea of nature or innate qualities and the other favoring nurture, or the idea that human development takes place after coming to this world, and it is not decided by genes. Both schools of thought have presented a number of arguments in their favor and opposing the opponent, but no definite conclusion has been reached yet as to which theory is more specific. The following paragraphs examine the findings of both the divisions and throws light on the fact that both nature, as well as nurture, has a part to play in development of human beings.

Discussion

English Victorian polymath Francis Galton coined the term nature versus nurture in its contemporary sense, and it deals with the impact of environment on the physical as well as cognitive development of the individual. The influence of environment on the social advancements also falls under the same category, and the psychologists fundamentally consider the fact.

Nature

The concept of nature came from Charles Darwin's Origin of Species, from which Galton concluded that the distribution of wealth, education and social privilege has close links with genes of the individual. Thus, if genes determine the social parameters, it can be said that nature determines the fate and abilities of individuals, while the environment does not play any part in shaping the fate and deciding the qualities of individuals.

Nurture

The concept of nurture traces back to the development of the idea of tabula rasa (blank slate) by John Locke, who said that children come to the world like a blank slate and the environment, then plays its part in determining their characteristics. ...