Are we defined by where we come from?

« Georgyan DAYRON Tle Simone Weil Are we defined by where we come from? Everybody’s life is different is lots of ways.

Indeed, some come from notorious families, others from nowhere.

However, to my mind, this can change: you can become well-known and wealthy with a lot of hard work and occasionally some luck.

Backbreaking work will lead you to Ray Comfort’s quote (a New Zealand-born Christian minister): “Never let the defeat of the past rob you of the success of your future.” He means that even though your past did not allow you to get educated or upbrought, you have to persevere to succeed later in your life. But are we determined by where we come from? Are we limited by our ancestry? I will explain how our past is preponderant, while it might not be the only factor in our destiny. The nature versus nurture debate is one of the oldest issues in psychology. It centers on the relative contributions of genetic inheritance and environmental factors to human development. - Nature refers to all of the genes and hereditary factors that influence who we are—from our physical appearance to our personality characteristics. - Nurture refers to all the environmental variables that impact who we are, including our early childhood experiences, how we were raised, our social relationships, and our surrounding culture. Some philosophers such as Plato and Descartes suggested that certain things are inborn, or that they occur naturally regardless of environmental influences. Nativists take the position that all or most behaviors and characteristics are the results of inheritance.

Other well-known thinkers such as John Locke (1632 – 1704) believed in what is known as tabula rasa , which suggests that the mind begins as a blank slate.

According to this notion, everything that we are and all of our knowledge is determined by our experience, and not our origins.

Empiricists (philosophers who suggest that life is only relying on our senses) take the position that most behaviors and characteristics result from learning.

However, when a person achieves tremendous academic success (such as self-made man J.D.

Vance), did they do so because they are genetically predisposed to be successful or is it a result of an enriched environment? Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy depicts how terrible his early life was: in this example, we know he became fortunate or triumphant without a helpful environment.

A few cases of biologically determined characteristics (nature) include certain genetic diseases, eye color, hair color, and skin color.

Other things like life expectancy and height have a strong biological component, but they are also influenced by environmental factors and lifestyle. Today, the majority of experts believe that both nature and nurture influence behavior and development.

However, the issue still rages on in many areas such as in the debate on the origins of homosexuality and influences on intelligence.

While few people take the extreme nativist or radical empiricist approach, researchers and experts still debate the degree to which biology and. »