Nature or Nurture

[DaveDee]

I believe we are born with the potential for light and dark, - the nature bit.

Then the nurture/or lack of, is the thing which brings out our innate gifts and talents, or, stunts/blocks us.

Gifts and talents can, of course be used, for light or dark, that depends on the individual, and how/if they were nurtured.

If that dosen't make sense, think loosely of eastern thinking.

Edited November 27, 2008 by emdeema

[Culchi]

I think genetics has a lot more to do with it than many of us think, but I'm not sure if it's 100%, or if it is how that would affect things like crime, given that if someone kills someone, for example, they are simply acting according to a genetic code that they ultimately have no control over whatsoever (not yet anyway). Nurture, in this case, would be the socially placed barriers that prevent us from acting by our very nature, a sort of behaviour therapy, but how much of our developing behaviour is learnt through observation and mimickery? If indeed everything is 100% genetic, without being genetically modified ourselves, it would appear that we are all doomed to repeat history and the mistakes of our ancestors, therefore our only hope lies in nurture. Deep philosophical and scientific question HT, what are you smoking?

Edited November 28, 2008 by Nettle-Grower

[Hashishin]

Deep philosophical and scientific question HT, what are you smoking?

Hehe some nice Ice buds at the moment Nettle

I get deeply philosophical sometimes after smoking, I just like to think about deep stuff. I don't know where I get it from or why I am like it. I wanted to do a philosophy course at college some years ago but I was talked out of it by some stupid jobsworth bint. I thought that I would start this thread to see how other tokers think and feel about the issue. I have talked to people that I have smoked with in the past about issues like this, TBH I think that I freaked them out abit, or they just didn't understand where I was coming from, or why I was thinking about such things .

:wink:

[Blayz'd]

I've got an add on to this topic.

Was just thinking about genetics in people. I realised something.

My father did 2 things before I was born which were major things in his life. One was driving the other was athletics. He used to compete internationally for the Air Force. Going around the world competing against other forces teams. Aswell as doing his usual job there as a fitter on aircraft. Basically I'm naturally athletic. Was always quick and agile in school. I haven't done anything for years but yet I'm still athletic. I see it as a natural thing.

The desire I have to operate vehicles has been bugging me for years. When I was about 12 I asked my parents to let me drive. Like take me to an airfield and let me have a go. They didn't. Told me not to be so stupid. Didn't even get me into go carting or anything. Just ignored my desire. In the end at around 13-14 I started driving on my own, illegally. I still have that same level of desire to drive and ride bikes today. In my experience I've got myself into some real bad situations. Basically things which could've been fatal mistakes. When these things have happened I've always acted without any thought and avoided a crash. I remember the first time it happened when I was a kid it supprised me. I couldn't drive at all at the time. I killed the clutch on the car in one night. During this night I found the car going sideways at about 50mph into parked cars. Somehow I knew that if I dropped a gear and clutched it while flooring it, I would power out of it. After years of doing things like this without thinking, in split seconds to avoid serious crashes, I've come to the conclusion that this is natural aswell. I was just thinking about it while making a cuppa and I think this is because my father did these things and trained himself so much that this was carried over to me in genetics. So having said that I would like to suggest that learned behaviours, talents and skills can be carried over to offspring through genetics.

Am I making sense here? Anyone else noticed this?

[Guest grandad]

my dad did nothing and said nothing, no advice no nurture just blank. mother, mother was adhd for sure and senseless. i know my genetics come from them but its life that shaped me, drugs and jobs and marriage and having kids, trouble with police from being very young, drugs and marriage, and if i did'nt fucking mention it marriage.

[Boojum]

Nah man, that's lamarckism - the idea that an organism can pass learned things on. Sorry but that's bullshit. But it could be the passing on of faster reflexes, neural pathways that enable you to process that kind of information better, stuff like that. Your dad did what he did cos his brain was wired that way, you have inherited that. But not what he learned. We don't pass on what we learn. But we have the capacity to learn. Brains are wired a certain way, bodies are wired a certain way - this we inherit from our parents. Like I said earlier, that's the foundation you are born with. If a parent is a good engineer/driver/physicist/linguist/whatever it's because their brain was 'wired' that way, so you are likely to have a talent for it too. Nowt to do with what they learned, just cos you're 'wired' that way. That's nature versus nurture. Genetics versus environment. You are wired a certain way, your learning and upbringing either complement or confront that.

Edited December 2, 2008 by Boojum

[Guest grandad]

my son is the spit out of my gob, but if you live like i have, and he is ,its a living nightmare that could drive you to despair. he drains me mentally and financially and has been part of my nightmare. but each living battle make us stronger if we win or lose, thats if you can keep some sanity, but insanity helps to pull you through.

[Guest]

Nature or Nurture, Why we are what we are, and what makes us that way?

I see it like this. We are a unique combination of our parents genetic code. This unique code then responds to the environment it inhabits. We are therefore both nature and nurture.

peacetribe

[Blayz'd]

Nah man, that's lamarckism - the idea that an organism can pass learned things on. Sorry but that's bullshit.

Then we'll have to agree to disagree.

The answer to the original question in this thread is both. I saw something regarding it recently. Where they were testing monkeys trying to discover this very thing. The answer they came up with was both.

[ngoma]

It's all in the breeding, ask any dog breeder. Skills, temperament, everything. Of course we think we're better than dogs but we're just the same really. Nature, it's the breeding, nurture, it's how much you can train the dumb beast, what you can do with the breeding. Some dogs can be trained for police work or helping the blind or hunting or retrieving etc but some are fuck useless. Same with humans.

So, yes, it's a mixture, but both are inextricably linked.