Do you believe that heredity or environment is the principal
determinant of human characteristics? Refer to Gould in your post.
4 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Both heredity and environment influence the characteristics of a human. On a more scientific level, heredity influences a person's physical traits. E.g. height, hair color, facial features, sex, etc. Those influences are more concrete, though on some level can be changed by the environment a person is in. A person could dye their hair a different color, could wear certain clothes or shoes to make them look different, wear different makeup to change facial features, and more. The possibilities are endless, though all of those things are caused by the surrounding influences. I believe that environment is more largely the determinant of human characteristics, because there are so many different ways that a person can change themselves based on what is happening around them. Stephen Jay Gould addressed in his essay "Women's Brains" the argument about whether brain size has anything to do with amount of intelligence. That relates to what we're comparing: heredity and environment. It is perfectly possible for a person to inherit a small brain size and become exceedingly smart based on the environment in which they were brought up in. Though the eternal question is, how can one make a distinction between what is influenced by heredity and what is influenced by environment? We may not be able to answer that in some cases, but certainly environment, especially in modern times, is extremely influential on human characteristics.
I agree that both the environment and heredity influence humans. As Nenah said, heredity has more of an influence over our physical appearances while our environment has more of an effect over who we become and the characteristics we exhibit. Who we become depends on our parents and the people we associate with. We can adopt their ideas, beliefs, and feelings and make them our own. For instance, political preferences of teens usually mimic those of their parents. Until we fully become our own person, we follow the example of those around us. In Gould's opinion, people who were born with smaller brains were less intellectual than those with larger brains. Yet, as Nenah pointed out, one can become smarter by immersing themselves into their education. Brain size does not directly correlate with intellectuality but certain aspects of our heredity can still effect who we are. Take gender: whether you are a male or female changes the ways in which you act and your likes and dislikes. It is believed that boys are usually more physical whereas girls exhibit qualities that are gentle and compassionate. Yet, its hard to distinguish whether these characteristics are imposed through the sex a child is born with or the environment they live in (i.e. influence through the media, movies etc.). There is a fine line between whether human characteristics are determined through heredity or environment.
You might consider twins separated at birth. There have been studies done which you could read that analyze the contributions of heredity and environment in shaping an individual. These studies show that there are strong links between the twins in behavior, attitude, interests, etc. which could only be explained by genetics. Or you might consider The Story of X. Certainly that parable suggests that the environment shapes human characteristics not heredity. My observations and experience leads me to believe we cannot discount heredity in assessing the development of behavioral and attitudinal traits.
I believe that while heredity and environment are both important, environment is more influential when determining human characteristics. While heredity takes care of physical characteristics and some behavioral characteristics, the environment in which one lives is constantly shifting, and affecting the characteristics of the ones who live in it. In his essay "Women's Brains", Stephen Jay Gould concludes that the myriad variables (environment) that influence brain size make it too difficult to pronounce an association between brain size and intelligence. Therefore, someone with a small brain could be influenced by their environment and gain intelligence, or someone with a large brain could be influenced and not be as intelligent. The sheer number of environmental variables is what makes environment so key to developing characteristics. Genetics predetermine some characteristics, but the multitude of events that happen each and every day play a larger role in shaping peoples' characteristics.
4 comments:
Both heredity and environment influence the characteristics of a human. On a more scientific level, heredity influences a person's physical traits. E.g. height, hair color, facial features, sex, etc. Those influences are more concrete, though on some level can be changed by the environment a person is in. A person could dye their hair a different color, could wear certain clothes or shoes to make them look different, wear different makeup to change facial features, and more. The possibilities are endless, though all of those things are caused by the surrounding influences. I believe that environment is more largely the determinant of human characteristics, because there are so many different ways that a person can change themselves based on what is happening around them. Stephen Jay Gould addressed in his essay "Women's Brains" the argument about whether brain size has anything to do with amount of intelligence. That relates to what we're comparing: heredity and environment. It is perfectly possible for a person to inherit a small brain size and become exceedingly smart based on the environment in which they were brought up in. Though the eternal question is, how can one make a distinction between what is influenced by heredity and what is influenced by environment? We may not be able to answer that in some cases, but certainly environment, especially in modern times, is extremely influential on human characteristics.
I agree that both the environment and heredity influence humans. As Nenah said, heredity has more of an influence over our physical appearances while our environment has more of an effect over who we become and the characteristics we exhibit. Who we become depends on our parents and the people we associate with. We can adopt their ideas, beliefs, and feelings and make them our own. For instance, political preferences of teens usually mimic those of their parents. Until we fully become our own person, we follow the example of those around us. In Gould's opinion, people who were born with smaller brains were less intellectual than those with larger brains. Yet, as Nenah pointed out, one can become smarter by immersing themselves into their education. Brain size does not directly correlate with intellectuality but certain aspects of our heredity can still effect who we are. Take gender: whether you are a male or female changes the ways in which you act and your likes and dislikes. It is believed that boys are usually more physical whereas girls exhibit qualities that are gentle and compassionate. Yet, its hard to distinguish whether these characteristics are imposed through the sex a child is born with or the environment they live in (i.e. influence through the media, movies etc.). There is a fine line between whether human characteristics are determined through heredity or environment.
You might consider twins separated at birth. There have been studies done which you could read that analyze the contributions of heredity and environment in shaping an individual. These studies show that there are strong links between the twins in behavior, attitude, interests, etc. which could only be explained by genetics. Or you might consider The Story of X. Certainly that parable suggests that the environment shapes human characteristics not heredity. My observations and experience leads me to believe we cannot discount heredity in assessing the development of behavioral and attitudinal traits.
I believe that while heredity and environment are both important, environment is more influential when determining human characteristics. While heredity takes care of physical characteristics and some behavioral characteristics, the environment in which one lives is constantly shifting, and affecting the characteristics of the ones who live in it. In his essay "Women's Brains", Stephen Jay Gould concludes that the myriad variables (environment) that influence brain size make it too difficult to pronounce an association between brain size and intelligence. Therefore, someone with a small brain could be influenced by their environment and gain intelligence, or someone with a large brain could be influenced and not be as intelligent. The sheer number of environmental variables is what makes environment so key to developing characteristics. Genetics predetermine some characteristics, but the multitude of events that happen each and every day play a larger role in shaping peoples' characteristics.
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