"You are either a product of your genes and biology (nature), or what you are is due to experience and environment (nurture)." Cardwell & Flanagan (2003) Psychology AS, Nelson Thornes, pg. 159
Before exploring this in psychological terms, what is your reaction to this debate?
• Using your own experiences to date do you believe your current behaviour is due to biological or environmental factors?
Answer the above question by responding to this post.
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It is difficult to argue that anyone is a product of their environment, and their environment only. Only a few people would propose that evolution is not at work, does that not mean we are all products of our environment? It can even be argued that nature is responsible for what may appear at a glance to be nurture; if my father looked like my grandfather, and myself like my father, would we not be treated similarly? Take, for instance, my hair. Plenty of people tease me about it, and whether the impact is conscious or subconscious there is still an impact. A psychologist would look at this and call it nurture, but if my father was called the same names, and his grandfather before him, and if they made the same impact, would it not be nature, genetics?
ReplyDeleteAnd as if that isn’t convincing enough, take determinism! What if everything was mapped out? Your potential and every decision known before you were even thought of? As strange as it seems; prove it wrong.
Go ahead, think “That can’t be true” or “It obviously isn’t true because I do random things sometimes!”
...
But that would be pre-determined anyway. The ultimate proof of the nature debate; literally irrefutable evidence that you, everything you are and everything you’ve done was pre-determined.
Doesn’t this sound about right? Everything comes back to nature; Evolution, Inheritance of ability, Mental disorders! Almost every psychological issue or action stems from the innate personality you were born with.
My current behaviour is most likely because of environment factors. I grew up with action figures and with advantage TV shows which played a part were I like to go do adventurist stuff. From living in the country for a long time is makes me enjoy living out door and liking being outside. My family are very polite and taught me to be the same so I would be polite as well. My parents are split up as well and my dad when into a depression and his family is more involved with alcohol then my mums. My mum’s family is more relaxed and down more cheerful. I spend most of my time with my mum now so I’m not so much into alcohol and I’m much laid back compared to my dad. I don’t have a religion but all my family does and my grandparents are very extreme Christians, but don’t fall to their pressure to it because I think it’s totally rubbish. Being at st Peters for my whole schooling life I take pride in my school and like supporting it. My friends and role models change me by how I look so that i will fit in but i never change my personally for people unless it hurts them. I think that my behaviour is because of my environment and maybe with a bit of biological, but mostly environment.
ReplyDeletephil
Personally, I think both have contributed to who I am today and my behavioural patterns although I think environmental factors have played a more significant role in doing so. Things like my manners and general personality I think are a major consequence of the way I’ve been brought up by my family. Politeness and manners in general has been drilled into myself and brothers since a very young age and has been highly encouraged in our household. We’ve always been taught to be accepting of other people no matter their race, age, size, gender or nationality and now acceptance is part of my personality. I think I would definitely be a different person if I had grown up in a different family or city. For example if I had lived in Sydney from a younger age rather than as a teenager I probably wouldn’t be as accepting or polite as I am today. Also if I had gone to an all-girls school from a young age it could have possibly been much more difficult to interact with guys and made me much more tolerant of the ‘cliquey’ culture that is evident among many all-girls schools. Although I do accept that part of who I am today is a product of my genes and DNA, I think that who I am as a person is credited to the environment I have been brought up in.
ReplyDeleteLily 10G
My Behaviour I think is one that is tampered with quite a lot. I think that it is due to the environmental factors that I live in. My peers are the ones who influence the way I behave in the school yard. This is simply because I am currently at boarding school and the boys that I am living with at the moment, especially the grade 12 boys, have a much higher count of testosterone thus making them act in a more violent way it something goes wrong. On the other hand, at home, you are around you siblings and you mother and father so it is very hard to see how they behave normally then all they are trying to do is make you happy and please you.
ReplyDeleteLiving in the country is another factor when it comes to behaviour. Living in the country, from my personal experiences, makes you realise how valuable you friends are and how much you appreciate things. Living in small country towns, mine being Goondiwindi, really made me appreciate the way we live because when I came to Brisbane for school, I didn’t know anyone and I found that I was very lost. Where’re as in Goondiwindi, we knew everyone who we went to school with and the classes were all very small. I’ve become more appreciative and small things like attending school functions are something that I really get a kick out of. Around the city of Brisbane, it is very hard to get along with people who work and you don’t make a great relationship with them. Living in urban cities is just too crowded and there are too many people to cope with. Rural towns are smaller and you basically know everyone in your community.
There was this one time where I wanted to go the movies in Goondiwindi but I was a little late. It was the final screening of the movie and it was not going to be played anymore. I rung up the Goondiwindi cinema and explained what was wrong the cinema man asked me how far away I was and in the rush of trying to get my little brother ready, I said 5 minutes. He then asked me, “sir, would you like me to delay the movie until you arrive?” obviously I said yes. That was just one small thing that really made me stop and think about. That would never happen in an urban and overpopulated city. That is why I’m so appetitive of the town I live in.
I have inherited behaviours from my family members because they are my family members but I think that I have just picked up more being around my boarding school friends. That because they are my age and that is what runs through every teenager’s brain that is going through adolescence. I have to act like he is acting because we are the same age and because we are friends. Teenagers don’t want to do what their parents do; they want to do their own thing with their own friends. Unfortunately that is just the way it is.
On the whole, I am a generally happy person with very little troubles or enemies. I am kind to all of my peers and I treat them with the upmost respect. So yes, my behaviour is partly because of the environmental factors and the people around me. But hey, I’m not going to let other teenagers run my life the way they want to, I Am an individual and I do things the way I want it to be done, not how they want he to do it.
Javier 10E
Based on my personal experiences I believe that who we are is mostly based on nurture. This is mainly because, living in a small town for 12 years and then coming to live in Brisbane without my parents around helped to make me more independent. The people in the boarding house came from all over the world and all had different views on certain situations. Living in the city there are many more people around in comparison to living in the country and being able to walk down a street and know 70% of the people.
ReplyDeleteAlso the people in the city are very different; instead of not having much to do with your friends other than go to the movies, in Brisbane the main thing to do is to go catch up at indro or the city with shops all around. Although, there are still many different activities to choose from. Also, being able to drive through the town in 15 minutes whereas in the city 15 minutes and more is the time it takes to catch a bus from one suburb to the other.
On the other hand nature also helps to form our personality. We inherit genes from parents and grandparents. We get their hair, their eyes and quite a lot of our personality from our blood related family. Most people inherit the same habits as their parents. Or could this just be from our nurture and watching our parents ever move?
-Amanda 10J
Right now I am standing just above the middle line favouring nurture over nature. Biological my traits in terms of my personality and hobbies are very different to my parents as well as my siblings. Therefore, the environment; the way I have been brought up and my life experiences have had an impact to who I ‘am today. For instance, going to St Peters has influenced my hobbies. The school has provided opportunities to explore other subjects and co-curriculums and from this environment my interests have been influenced. Also I think my personality would have been completely different if I had been raised in a different environment and attended a different school. My parents are polite and think of others and from that it has also taught me to look at everyone’s perceptive. However in saying that, some of my physical traits have come from a nature point of view. This includes my black colour hair and brown eyes. My parents and siblings both have these facial traits. It has been passed down from generations therefore is more of a genetic side of me. Overall I do think my personality is more to do with nurture however, some traits can be nature.
ReplyDeleteManraj
The debate of Nurture and Nature cannot be easily answered. It is near impossible to eliminate one or the other. A combination of the two is the product of who we are. I believe that although my biology does affect the way I live, my experiences and environment greater impacts who I am.
ReplyDeleteIf a person was born in a completely different situation to their current one, they would not grow to be the same person. People who move to a different city, or a different housing situation, or change their friends, adjust their lives to the circumstances they are in. The influences we get from our environment, our friends and our family immensely change our personality, our interests, our lifestyle choices and much more.
My strengths intelligence-wise do not fit my parents. My father’s strength is maths, and he is very logical and systematic. My mother prefers the creative side of learning, and is more art and culturally orientated. I enjoy English and History, analysing and discussing situations. My aspiration to follow a career in counselling or social work I believe comes from my experiences. I have grown to love English due to the classes and teachers I am allocated. In primary school, my favourite teacher combined English, Drama and Counselling as her career. This led me to aspire to the same profession.
I do acknowledge that some traits and aspects of a person must come from nature. However, our life situations shape and create who we are.
Anna, 10M
I believe that my current behaviour is a result of mainly the environment I have grown up in and not my genetic make-up.
ReplyDeleteDue to past experiences, such as family struggles, I have been encouraged to always look on the bright side of life. This is mainly the reason why I prefer to be a happy person and enjoy my life. Furthermore, when you and the people you are close to experience hardships together, a stronger bond is created and their opinions and expectations about life influence your behaviour.
Another factor in my environment which has affected my current behaviour is my siblings. We are all very close and enjoy each other’s company and that has allowed me to have another group of people to talk to and also helped to create a healthy home environment.
My school environment has also had a large impact on my current behaviour. St Peters helps encourages people to do their best and presents so many opportunities. As a result of this, I have been involved in many different activities and have formed new skills and friendships. Because of school environment, my behaviour and attitude in life is generally always positive and optimistic because I know that I am extremely lucky to be at St Peters......Nerdy but true.
Now personally I think that if I had been bought up by different parents, in a different culture, in a different school, my behaviour and attitude towards life would be DIFFERENT. However, I do not ignore the fact that genetics have played a part in my past, present and no doubt will in my future!
Maddie R 10P
Although it is very difficult to say that my genetics are entirely due to Nurture rather than nature, I do believe that it is nurture rather than nature which has shaped my personality to what it is today. An example of this is seen through my brother and sister. Growing up they never gave in the temptations of smoking and drugs. Therefore I took it upon myself to live up to their examples and I now have a strong anti drug attitude.
ReplyDeleteAlso, if it wasn’t for my experience in travelling around the world to underprivileged countries, I would find it hard to understand how much I really benefit from living in Australia and getting a good education.
In relation to my education, going to a Christian school has helped me understand how to treat others and how I should appreciate what has been given to me. This shows how I believe that nurture has influenced these personal qualities and myself in general.
My parent when growing up weren’t as privileged as I am today. This means that when I was growing up they taught me how to appreciate what I have and the true meaning of money and its importance. They were also particularly insistent that my manners were addressed at an early age. This has been reinforced throughout my childhood as I progress to adulthood and I appreciate this fully.
I believe that I am a product of nurture rather than nature. This is through my privileges, family and school. Although there may be some elements of nature in me, I trust that I would not be the person I am today if it wasn’t for the influences of these aspects in my life.
Nick 10K
I believe that my current behaviour is at least 70% due to the environment that I have grown up with. In my opinion my life has been extremely shaped by my school, parents (not due to genes), friends, sports and music. Although your genes may decide some of your personality traits that you have, many personality traits are developed after you are born due to experiences (ex. If you are bitten by a snake when you are young you are more likely to dislike snakes).
ReplyDeleteEarlier this year we studied the social learning theory (Bandura, 1962). Bandura proved that children learn from their role models. If this is the case could it not be said that growing up with aggressive parents rather than a more passive parents would lead to children repeating the behaviour that their role models/parents have shown them.
Dr. William Greeno of the University of Illinois conducted experiments on rodents to test whether their surrounding would change their intelligence. Dr. Greeno gave different rats several types of surrounding, ranging from mesh cages to stimulation surrounding’s. Dr. Greeno found that the rats that were placed in more stimulating surroundings developed more connections per nerve cell in parts if the brain and appeared to be smarter than those that in ordinary cages.
http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=17385
by Atienne 10D
I believe that my current behaviour results from a variety of both nature and nurture factors. However, I stand closer to the nurture side rather than natural occurrences.
ReplyDeleteBiological factors can still be seen throughout my values, personality traits and physical appearance and abilities. For instance, I have developed facial features from both my parents, and can be easily mistaken with my sisters. I have also genetically inherited common personality traits, especially from my mother. Such as being able to understand others easily, and having the same strengths and weaknesses in intellectual areas (eg. We are both better at English then maths). I have also gained the same metabolism and figure from my mum. However, I have attained my physical endurance ability from my dad.
Even with these genetic factors, nurture has a much more impacting affect on the way people react and behave in different situations – or more plainly, who people are. The way I have been brought up has seriously impacted my personality. For instance, by attending a good primary school and having parents that were good role models, I have learnt manners and the basic values that I still hold. I have learnt from observation how to relate to other people, and communicate clearly and not from instinct.
As I have grown up, and met friends of my own, I have subconsciously conformed to be similar to them in some aspects. For instance, if I had befriended other people I may not have been the person I am today. Living in the safe country Australia, for my entire life, would have also altered my current values. Even some of my physical abilities could have been developed just by attending regular training sessions. I have almost the complete opposite personality traits to my dad, and quite a few differences between one of my sisters in particular. This proves that genetics does not have an overwhelming impact on one’s individuality.
Therefore, I stand closer to the extremist nurture side at this point in time.
Danika
I believe we are born with nature but experience life mainly through nurture. As a twin, I look very similar to my sister but I have a very different personality and skills. It shows that we need both nature and nurture to lead a balanced life. My sister does better in things that I don't do so well in while I do better in things that she doesn’t do as well which proves the theory of nature. Through personal experiences, I have learnt many important life lessons and a lot of information, especially at school. I have learnt how to use speech and have a conversation through everyday situations and watching others when I was young. When I was born, I could not walk, talk or communicate properly, but my life progressed with nurture, I learnt to do things that I couldn't always do. Having my sister helped me to learn to share and not be so selfish towards others when I was younger than if I was an only child. It is nurture and your environment that mainly affect the way you develop thought some things do come from genetic inheritance – nature.
ReplyDeleteAs a teenager, I think that life is very nurture based at the moment. I am influenced by my friends when i make certain decisions which says that life is nurture based.
Maddy M 10N
Nature vs. Nurture. Using my own experiences i believe my current behaviour is due to environmental and biological factors. An example of a biological factor that i have inhibited in my genes from my parents is sport genes; this is also an example of environmental because your parents could surround you, from a young age, with a sporty environment and with plenty of sport activities. Another environmental thing that influenced my personality was moving around the world, when i was 6 weeks old I moved from England to Hong Kong, then at 5 years of age I moved to Sri Lanka. After living in Sri Lanka for 6 months i moved back to England for 5 years, then finally we moved to Australia. My dad lives in San Francisco in the USA, and the rest of my family is spread out around the world. I believe that these environmental, worldly experiences and choices of which my parents made have influenced my personality greatly, as it has made me a cultural and world- wise person. However, the reason that i am interested in the culture of other countries may also be because of my biological genes rather than the household that my parents brought me up in.
ReplyDeleteIn the nature vs. nurture debate, it is very difficult to choose a side. A person’s personality is due to the fact of nature and the fact of nurture. However, if you’re born into a loving, caring family, but early in your childhood get put in a foster home and get adopted by a very depriving family and live in a rough, violent household, when you grow older you may turn out rough or aggressive due to the way you were brought up not the biological factors. Therefore the nature and nurture side both have basically the same amount of impact on your personality.
I believe that my current behaviour has been influenced both by nature and nurture. I strongly believe that a person can’t honestly say that they are all nature and no nature or the other way around for in fact you processes both. Nurture influences everyone subconsciously by your society, role models, friends, social class, culture, religion and Nature is in your blood. When i was growing up I had a mixture of the two which helped me to expand my knowledge and better understand the world.
ReplyDeleteFor Example of Nurture impacting my life was when I was at an early stage of my life and learning new things. I began to have role models and dreams of what I wanted to succeed in life. This one typical Role model that I remember was a hit singer and actress at the time that I began to look up to and admire. She influenced my behaviour in my life about how to dress and how to act in public. Although my role model wasn’t the best one for a child to have she was the one that I most looked up to in my life and who possibly altered my behaviour on situations such as how to dress, how to act, etc.
A example of Nature in my life was by how I inherited most of my fathers genes. For example he was a very sporty person and loved to win from a young age I developed a love for sport especially and a thirst for success in every sport. My Father always was very competitive in anything he did which i believed was passed on to me. I now strive to be competitive in anything I do and always see things as a race Although that was at a early stage I still consider myself fairly sporty thanks to my father.
Therefore i believe that Both Nature and Nurture made me who i am today.
Sanda
Reflecting back on my own personal practices, I believe that my behaviour is due to my environmental experiences throughout my life. A major factor in this has been the many people that have had a massive input, places that I have discovered and things that I have come to know during my existence.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up in the city gives people more of a materialistic look on things. An instance of this is that we are exposed with a variety of different opportunities. On the other hand have living in the country, and people distinguishing the world in comparison to the other side are completely different. Their views and perspectives on different things can impact the way we congregate, because we are like two separate worlds.
For example my brothers and I are very sporty and tend to when we join a sport want to give everything we have in it, this may come from my dad genetically. He was exceptionally sporty when he was young. Likewise my sister is more of the arty type and vice versa with my mom she is an extremely creative person.
In conclusion I do believe that in my life my experience it has and is been impacted on the environmental side of things. In this I agree with chilli in how he has explained the differences between the country and city and his view on how diverse people may act compared to the city side. of things.
Genevieve 10N :)
Using my own experiences I believe that my current behaviour is due to both biological and environmental factors. I believe that it is partly due to my biological make up. However I also believe that the environment in which I have grown up in and the experiences that I have been through has lead me to become the person I am today. An example of this is where I live and where I was born. I was born in South Africa and moved to Brisbane when I was seven. I believe that if I were to still be living in South Africa I would be more street wise and have a more rough personality due to the crime stricken environment.
ReplyDeleteMy parents have brought me up in a way that I have learnt to be respectful and courteous. I believe that if I had not had this while I was growing up I would have a different outlook and treat people differently. Although the biological make up influences for example diseases, I believe that the nurture side of the debate has a much stronger and more reliable argument.
When travelling I have found that the different countries and their environments have contribute to the morals and values of their people. If anyone lives in a particular environment they adapt their beliefs to what the societies think is acceptable, therefore this helps prove that if we grow up in different surroundings it will ultimately affect the person we become.
Overall I believe that although biological factors have influenced my current behaviour, it is more about the environment and experiences that I have been through that have shaped the personality in which I have today.
Shannon Lovell
We are the product of nurture. Some things are predetermined: sex, structure (body and face), disorders. All these things impact the people’s lives but that doesn’t make them who they are, the environment they live in does.
ReplyDeleteFor example some would argue that smoking is due to a predisposition, but I know people that have a brother or sister that smoke, their friends smoked so they got drawn in. their younger brother or sister had friends that didn’t, so they chose not to. If there was a predisposition in the family than wouldn’t that affect both of the siblings? Callum I mainly pose that to you, because you said “literally irrefutable evidence that you, everything you are and everything you’ve done was pre-determined.”
michael.israel
It would be pretty difficult to find a good reason to cal yourself either nature or nurture because most people, if not everyone, is influenced by both sides of this argument. Many people could be born with the same kind of persnality as there parents, but this could be from either genetics or just growing up around them. A lot of people change the way they speak, or how they come across to others, depending on their perception of their role models. Take a kid who's parents are alchoholics. They'd probably realis the damage it does and be very careful about it, or maybe steer clear of it altogether, because of the way it has affected their parents. That wouldmost likely be nurture, because they aren't born with that awareness.
ReplyDeleteFor me personally, I'd think that I'm definetely parts of both nature and nurture. I'm very similar to my mum in many ways, we're both proud of where we come from, and are very friendly (well, me anyway). Many people would say that's entirely nature, but I'm pretty convinced that if I hadn't moved away from Scotland at an early age, I probably wouldn't be as patriotic as I am now. And we have our differences as well. My parents don't get angry too often, but when they do, you sure know about it. On the other hand, I tend to not get angry much and never take anything seriously. Some would say that's a bad thing. But that couldn't possibly be nature, because we're completely different. Something in our lives must have caused us to act like that. It's probably just 'cos they're older. But kids always have similarities with their parents, be it music or looks or whatever, but they also have their own individual stereak that is often completely different from anything that their parents have ever even considered doing. So I'd say that we can't really consider ourself both nature OR nurture, it's just not gonnae work. We're proably some mish mash of both.
Big Love
Fraser 10N
In my opinion you can’t be the person you are today, without having aspects from both nature and nurture. Nurture is what your parents or guardians provide such as love, care, support, attention and encouragement. It is also making you feel self worth and confidence so you have some form of sociability when you are in your early childhood.
ReplyDeleteNature is when everything that you are has everything to do with your biology and genes from your parents. You would be the exact same person if you were put in totally different environments, such as being raised up in China or being raised in Europe.
So depending on how you look at it, it will change from nurture to nature such as your intelligence. I believe it is mostly from your nature, although it is also from your nurture because you may not use your full potential of intelligence if you’re not in the environment that would let you. Also you may use it more or develop it quicker depending on your parents and how they nurture you.
In terms of your personality I think that it is purely to do with nurture such as your environment, school and friends because I believe if I was at another school or had different friends I would be a different person than what I am today.
alice 10F
Personally, on this debate, I would have to say that I tend to believe more so in “nurture” rather than “nature”. I feel that the nature argument can be awfully restrictive of change and individuality. People do change their opinions and their interests – whether it be something as simple as favourite colour or one’s opinion on the world, religion or politics.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was younger, I used to love anime (such as Pokémon, digemon, and a few others) even though I didn’t actually know what the word anime meant at that point in time. Note that I am not Japanese and I don’t know of any relatives who have this interest. Now, I read manga, watch anime, and like Japanese culture and food. If I do not descend from any Japanese, how come I have this interest? I do not believe it can be explained by “nature”.
However, I do believe that people do have natural talents that come from nature – and not necessarily the exact same talent of a parent or distant relative. Perhaps, these talents are merely a skill that will only be brought forwards if the individual practices it and has interest in it. For me, this would be writing and drawing. When I was younger, I loved to draw and I decided I wanted to be an author in year seven (and still do).
Although, to me, it doesn’t sound very scientific to say that everything can be pre-determined by genes. I suppose, overall, although there is some credibility in nature – life has too many pathways to choose from; nothing can be so certain. Therefore, I lean towards the “nurture” side of the debate.
~ Emma
For what I known of my personality I think that I’m lying on both Nature and Nurture. I’m not sure whether it is to do with my background or I moved here when I was 10 years old. My hometown is actually in Taiwan but I was born in New Zealand. For a period of time I was living in Taiwan and was schooling there. Everyday what I do is homework till 1 am in the morning. Parents are strict but busy too, so they expect very high standards of me in school. My background is Chinese so obviously my parents were very strict when I was in Taiwan, for instance if I didn’t get 90% or 100% on my test correct I would get hit. Due to that I would have the fear of getting hit so I would do my best to the limit either my homework or the test. While this is becoming common to me that I get yelled or get hit by my dad every time I didn’t do great, it became a habit of working really hard on my work because I want a lesser chance of getting hit. I’m not sure if this is nurture or its nature but I’m pretty sure because of the fear of getting hit I would want to do well in my work.
ReplyDeleteSince I came to Australia, my dad stopped hitting me until when I was 11 years old. It’s because of the law here but also because I’m older, so he tried to talk whenever I done wrong. That makes me feel more freedom and less stress of worrying getting hit. So I think when I came to Australia it starts going towards nature. Still my parents are strict as ever, so for me I think it’s 50% 50% both nature and nurture, but I’m not sure…
Diana 10D
I believe that my current personality, behaviour, and interests are mainly the result of the environmental factors although there are some biological factors that have influenced the way I am.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, I have grown up among medical professionals. Most of my close family members including my parents, grandpa, and uncles are medical specialists. When I was born, I had to live with my grandparents as my parents were still medical residents. Consequently, most of my memories from my childhood are set in my grandparent’s house. I frequently visited hospitals to see my grandpa and my parents. Most doctors, nurses, and even patients became aware of my presence. Unlike most children who fear hospitals, it became a form of “playground” for me. As I started school, the visits became less frequent, but strangely enough, I’ve grown fond of hospitals and the role of doctors. In my opinion, the reason I am considering medicine as my career path is not because I was born to be a doctor but because I know so much about it. Yes, my interests can be biological. It can be seen as a result of my family members being doctors. However, I believe that if they had sent me to, say music school full of professional musicians, my occupational preferences would probably be different, perhaps more towards music.
I lived in South Korea through my childhood and beginning part of my primary school years. Therefore, I had some experience of the academic pressure of Asian schools. Right from grade 1, the classrooms were set in rows, the time table was strictly planned – it was compulsory to take all the following subjects: Korean, Maths, Science, Humanity, English, Manners, Art, Music, Physical Education, and Life Skills, external exams were conducted on every one of these subject at the end of semesters – similar to exam blocks but it was compulsory to come to school, and on top of school work, it was necessary to attend outside school “school”. My parents however, did not believe in outside school education, therefore, thankfully, I had a pretty easy life compared to other students. However, I eventually HAD to take these lessons to pass school. When I came here, I studied as much as I would have if I was still studying in Korea. However, as I got use to the stress-free academic environment, the time and effort I put into study gradually decreased. If I was still studying in Korea and I only study as much as I do here, I would be failing in virtually all subjects and possibly expelled from school. Also, my personality, and views definitely changed significantly by just changing the environment. There were no biological factors concerning this case. My parents seem to be the same as they were in Korea although my brother and I changed quite a lot. Therefore, I think that environmental factors have a greater influence on one’s life than biological factors.
Jess Lee
10B
I believe that I am who I am because of my environment, my parents and my friends (Nurture) and not because of Nature. I grew up with my Mum, Dad, big sister (Amy) and little sister (Jessica). We all have different talents that weren’t exactly passed down from our parents. Amy was a very good gymnast, however, no one in our close family or extended family has any talents like that. The reason that Amy was as good as she was is because she did gymnastics since before she was in school, she loved it and worked very hard.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in a Christian family and have acted in that way for a long time but as I have grown up, my friends and my view on my family have changed over time, and therefore some of my values have changed, along with my behaviour. This is not because it was biologically programmed for this to happen but because my environment has changed and different things have become of value to me.
I believe that a person’s behaviour is influenced by their environment. My friends at school are very different to some of my friends out of school and it is evident that I behave slightly differently when I am with my school friends then I do with my outside of school friends, just as I behave differently at home then I do when I am out. All of these factors have been combined to make the person that I am.
Last year I went to South Africa with some people from my church, this was an amazing experience and has shown me how lucky I am. It also taught me how easy it is to take things for advantage. After this experience I have been able to appreciate what I have a lot more then I use to before.
I believe that if I had not had all the experiences that I have had in my life and not had the same parents, then I wouldn’t be who I am today.
Katie G
I believe that the way I behave today is a result from my previous experiences and nurture factors. Moving overseas has definitely had an impact in my life and has allowed me to meet new people, and have new experiences. If I stayed in England my life would be extremely different, and I would be more like the person I was when I left, than I am now. Living in Australia has allowed me to live in a better environment all together, as well as going to a better learning environment.
ReplyDeleteComing to St Peters instead of an all girls school like Brigidine for example has been a real advantage for me. My parents have made the decision to send me to a well educated environment, and I think this has impacted my friendship groups as well as the grades I get. Going to a good primary school as a young child, taught me the most simplistic but important values in life, such as respect and manners, which I still try and hold today.
A lot of people learn from their mistakes, and this is obviously not a biological factor. I have learnt many of my personality traits from my past experiences and actions, and if personality was a biological factor then there would be no individuals in a family, but sibling’s can be very different from each other, and children different from their parents.
Finally I believe that intelligence isn’t inherited from a person’s parents, but from how persistent they are, or the effort they have put in. A person doesn’t have the same intelligence level in grade two as they do year ten, therefore it is earned over time, through an education and experiences.
Corrina