Human Growth and development - Essay Example

[Your full July 2, Why the Nature-Nurture Debate? The nature versus nurture debate demonstrates whether a human being is just formed by pieces of flesh with biological predispositions and genes responsible for his behavior, or there is also an intellectual soul residing in him that is able to learn and acquire behaviors and attitudes that are not innate (Shaffer 11). Some researchers support the argument that nature is responsible for the makeup of an individual’s behavioral patterns which can be modified through interaction with society.

They suggest that human beings are not happy or sad because of their environment but individuals are different from each other because of their genetic makeup granted to them by their parents. Opponents of this approach argue that the behavioral patterns have nothing to do with genes because a human being can be modified into whatever kind of a person the nurturer wants him to grow into. Researchers and scientists have yet not settled down the argument over which part of the debate to support even after 200 year study on this subject.

Several researches have been conducted in the past that prove that human genetics go hand in hand with human environment. This debate has never been settled because the truth is that both nature and nurture interrelate with each other and work parallel to each other in defining an individual’s behavior. It is incorrect to hold any one of the two responsible for how human beings grow and behave. Genes hold very much importance in the personality development of an individual but one cannot discard the importance of nurture.

Works Cited Shaffer, David R. “Nature versus Nurture.” Social and Personality Development. USA: Cengage Learning, 2009.