Nature vs. Nurture

[AlmostNiceGuyParticipant 210]

So this is my dilemma at the moment. My mother and father divorced when I was about a year old, I think I spoke about this on some previous entry but whatever. I saw him occasionally after that, and in some aspects we really bonded, but he was very difficult to deal with. I understand his point now, his wife left and took his two kids, and she re married, and till I was eighteen he had to pay child support for my sister and myself. So while I do not quite forgive him for some of the s~~~ he did, I do understand why he acted in such a way with my sister and I. My step-dad on the other hand, while sometimes harsh, was and still is my role model, truly exemplary. Until recently I believed that nurture was the key determining factor on how someone behaved, however through each passing day I behave more and more like my father. Same taste in cologne, same taste in cars, but the biggest factor is my temperament. My biological father gets angry pretty easily, but when in extreme circumstances he engulfs himself in rage, and he frankly fights a lot. I have the same temperament, but I don’t get in fights, which I think I got from my stepdad. Sometimes I would get so angry I would shake, punch things, but never really try to hurt people. The gym drains me of most of that, as well as the snarky comment here and there. So anyway here’s my question for you brothers, what do you think about nature vs. nurture?

[sidecarParticipant 35862]

AlmostNiceGuy wrote:

Sometimes I would get so angry I would shake, punch things, but never really try to hurt people.

Everyone gets angry. What matters is what you choose to do with it. Using your anger constructively is just another learned skill, like flint knapping or bicycle riding. All it takes is enough practice until you can do it without thinking about it. That’s not something that’s in your genes; there is no genetic sequence for riding bicycles. And it’s not something anyone can learn for you, because you have to do the practice yourself. It’s all you.

Nature versus nurture is a false dichotomy of falsehoods. Both are a trap and worse. Both are unworthy weaselly cop out excuses for how you choose to act. Animals might be the product of their heritage or upbringing, but we are supposed to be men. We are supposed to transcend those limitations.

The phrase “Self Made Man” is a redundancy. We are all self made or we are not men. You can choose to be a copy of your parents, biological or otherwise, or you can choose to Go Your Own Way, but make no mistake it is entirely your choice.

Choose well.

[The Moth Attracted to the FlameParticipant 2982]

Nature might ultimately lead to you following a very corrupt system. Nurture might make you feel like an emotional tool.

I agree with Sidecar on this. You’re supposed to exceed others’ expectations and live by the most reasonable standards. It’s your choice.

[Puffin StuffParticipant 25018]

Sorry for the rant, I love this subject. Here’s my two cents.

I’m a medical scientist and study next generation sequencing which is the cutting edge method of genetic analysis today. It is my opinion that it’s almost all nature. Of course the way your nature plays out is determined by your environment like the way a car will behave differently depending on whether your driving in the country or the city. But a car is a car and is nearly identical to all the other cars of the same make and model.

I base my opinion on a few facts. One is that the brain is more and more being treated as a mechanism by psychiatry with the advent of specifically acting medications over psychotherapy. Another is that the brain is an organ like any other and the other organs are inherited from your parents. A child looks like one parent or the other or a combination from the nose to the fingers to genetic abnormalities like a propensity for colon cancer. We are rapidly finding the actual genes that code these things and they are inherited in mendelian fashion.

Even the eyes are inherited. We all know that eye color is inherited. We also know that they eye is part of the brain.

So the combination of seeing the brain as a mechanism and our knowledge of genetics leads to the conclusion that the structure of the brain is likely inherited. Thus you are likely to be like your mother, father or a combination of both.

These traits will be expressed based on the situation that the environment demands much like a car’s behavior will depend on it’s environment.

This would support the idea that things like leadership personality is inherited and studies have shown that this is indeed true. If you inherit a propensity for leadership you may lead your team at work or start your own company or be elected to public office.

In my personal life my son looks nearly identical to his mother and his personality is very much like hers and not very much like mine. Despite him being raised in a totally different environment than his mom was raised and he even has a different gender, the similarities in the way he thinks about his challenges with his mom’s way is striking.

Anyway, that’s my two cents. I think this is a fascinating subject and is changing rapidly with our explosion of knowledge of how the brain works combined with the way gene’s work.

End rant.

#icethemout; Remember Thomas Ball. He died for your children.

[sidecarParticipant 35862]

The Moth Attracted to the Flame wrote:

You’re supposed to exceed others’ expectations and live by the most reasonable standards.

Close but not quite. F~~~ others’ expectations. Work to exceed your own expectations. Set your own standards, and set ’em high.

Puffin Stuff wrote:

I’m a medical scientist and study next generation sequencing which is the cutting edge method of genetic analysis today.

But epigenetics account for so much development. You inherit your genes from your parents, but not necessarily which ones get turned on, or when. There are all sorts of strange feedback loops going on there, especially in the brain.

[AncientwisdomParticipant 6089]

HR Puffnstuff,

Your post is very enlightening and intriguing.

We also know that they eye is part of the brain.

Can you elaborate on this?

Resident cynic.

[RoyDalParticipant]

A lot more of our behavior is genetically programmed, and a lot less is free will, than we might wish. Those studies of twins separated at birth bore this out.

Put it another way. Dogs and horses inherit their parent’s behavioral traits. Why shouldn’t humans?

As it applies to real life, if her mom is a psycho, then don’t marry her!

Society asks MGTOWs: Why are you not making more tax-slaves?

[Dark KenshiParticipant 2132]

RoyDal wrote:

A lot more of our behavior is genetically programmed, and a lot less is free will, than we might wish. Those studies of twins separated at birth bore this out.
Put it another way. Dogs and horses inherit their parent’s behavioral traits. Why shouldn’t humans?
As it applies to real life, if her mom is a psycho, then don’t marry her!

Brother, I don’t know any woman who her mother was NOT a psycho.

But I do get your point and you are right. Observe the behaviour of her parents, compare to her, and see how things are going.

That can and WILL save a lot of trouble for many of us.

Thanks for the insight!

"Young was I once, I walked alone, and bewildered seemed in the way; then I found me another and rich I thought me, for man is the joy of man." Odin, Hàvamàl, stanza 47.

[Puffin StuffParticipant 25018]

Eyes are a direct extension of the brain. Eyes are connected via the optic nerve to the rest of the brain and the connection is so strong that they eye is considered a part of the brain:

A person with a brain injury is likely to have some degree of visual difficulty as the eye is a direct extension of the brain. A large percentage of what we perceive is through the visual system and, therefore, the rehabilitation of vision with the brain injury patient is critical to their recovery of function

I’m not a neuroscientist but this is an undisputed fact.

https://www.opt.uh.edu/patient-care/uei/our-services/brain-injury/

So they eyes really are windows to the mind.

#icethemout; Remember Thomas Ball. He died for your children.

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