The Question of Nature or Nurture
In psychology, both in the past and present, there has been a search for an answer to the question of how our personalities and behaviors are formed. There are two major hypotheses that attempt to answer this question. The first holds that our personality is determined by our genetic makeup. The second hypothesis states that the environment in which we are raised determines our personality. However, neither or these are right, and neither are wrong. The simple truth is that both our genes and our environment and experiences affect who we are. Our genes lay the basic framework for our behavior, such as survival instincts, the fight or flight reaction, and, as one hypothesis about sleep suggests, our need for sleep. This can be seen in Socrates' leap into the river after his cruel master Jennings. Even though Socrates possessed huma
n-like intelligence, thousands of years of loyalty and subservience to human masters had made that undying loyalty a genetic trait. Socrates remains loyal to a master that beats him nightly. Genetic behavior is a compulsive concept. We cannot explain why we need to sleep, just as Socrates could not explain to the Professor why he had to go back to Jennings. The basic concept that genetics determine our personality and behavior is subscribed to by the Freudians. They believe that by nature, we are bad and impulsive creatures, and that our environments can only thinly veil these basic urges. While the genes lay the basic framework for our behavior and personality, our environment and experiences give the flat basics a bit of depth and individuality. We are all human, but we are not all the same. Environment and experiences, even those we do not unders
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Approximate Word count = 583
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)
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