Sunday, August 10, 2008

Which is more powerful? Nature or Nurture?

Are you born with talents, skills which will make you successful in life?

Or can one born without special talents and skills, learn them, nuture and apply them to becomes successful in life?

Perhaps there's no final answer to this question. The debate will go on.

Some will say: Necessity is the mother of inventions. The circumstances creates the man. It's about Nuture, One's "environment" make one who he is! And that's true too.

So if you have to choose, which side do you stand on?

Personally, I believe Nuture is more powerful than Nature.

Why?

Because All is environment! Because all our experiences, our beliefs, our culture, the perpectives, the concepts or mental structures we carry about in our mind, our mindsets, they all becomes what I would call our internal environment. They are very powerful shapers of our behavior, besides our external environment. They determine how we respond to events around us and thus our "success" in life.

Our experiences?
Some of the world "greatest" leaders became who they are because of having gone through some life or death experiences in their lives. Emperor Shi Huang Ti. Genghis Khan.....the circumstances, the harrowing experiences created the man. Usually they resolve to destroy anyone and anything that stood in their way of achieving "absolute" power and success.

Our external environment?
If we live in a bustling city, our behavior we be different from if we live in the slow countryside. We rush about in the city, probably have shorter tempers. We take things slowly in the country, nothing much to fret over with.

Even Genetic factors are shaped by environment.

Nuture wins the Day!
If that's so, so what?

If I don't like what's happening in my life, I can do something about it.
I can change the concepts, the mental structures I carry about in my mind, my internal environment and change my life.

Nothing is predetermined and certainly not by the genes. Ones beliefs created by circumstances, and by Nuture, is more powerful and is the key to success in life.

Not convinced?

Actually Bucky is convinced that we're all born geniuses! And our childhood environment, from the people around us, to our physical surroundings de-geniuses us! In fact he shared about Dr. Benjamin Blooms study and authority on education. If we can describe the environment of a young child's life, Dr. Bloom can predict to about 90% accuracy whether the child will grow up to be a delinquent of society or will make it through to University and "success" in life.

2 comments:

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CJ Fearnley said...

I am skeptical of the duality between nature and nurture. The nurture of nature is nurture and the nature of nurture is nature! Nature is the generalized principles and they are prevalent and overwhelming. Nurture, as you say, is environment and nothing in nature nurtures without environment. The two concepts are so intertwined!