Nature vs Nurture | Genetics vs Environment

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Typhoon
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Nature vs Nurture | Genetics vs Environment

Post by Typhoon »

The Spectator | Do parents really matter?
Our intuition sometimes seems to testify against the work of Bouchard and his team. The emphasis on nurture dictates that identical twins, reared apart and reunited later in life, should not be all that similar. And yet they are. Contrastingly, adopted children who share no distinguishing DNA with one another but are raised together should be quite similar. Yet they are not, and this poses some problems for traditional ideas about how parents shape children.

It’s not just Bouchard’s work that suggests parents have less influence than we think. Decades of research into behavioural genetics — twin studies, family studies and the adoption and identical-twin stories I have already mentioned — all point in the same direction. The shared environment, the experiences that create similarities between siblings raised together — the part of the environment that most often captures parenting influences — are all secondary when it comes to personality, behaviour or intelligence. What’s more, my own work as a criminologist, and that of my colleagues, has revealed the same pattern of findings when applied to violence, antisocial behaviour and crime.
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Re: Nature vs Nurture | Genetics vs Environment

Post by Simple Minded »

A very interesting take on a timeless debate. Seems to reflect social mood to me. Whether the science is settled or not will depend on upon current zeitgeist.

A gold mine for those who think eugenics should be used to improve society, and for mothers who want to go back to work to get away from their little barbarian off-spring. "Hey, if I can't make a big difference in junior's quality of life, I'm gonna go hang out with some reasonable adults!"

Not a good study for social services advocates who would like a steady paycheck.
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Typhoon
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Re: Nature vs Nurture | Genetics vs Environment

Post by Typhoon »

Simple Minded wrote:A very interesting take on a timeless debate. Seems to reflect social mood to me. Whether the science is settled or not will depend on upon current zeitgeist.
I would argue that the article goes against current social belief: that children are a blank slate who identity, gender, personality, and beliefs are determined by enculturation.
Simple Minded wrote: A gold mine for those who think eugenics should be used to improve society,
Yes, it could certainly be misconstrued as a argument in favour of eugenics.

What the article does not claim is that one's personality is solely determined by genetics, rather that genetics may be a more important factor than is generally believed.
Simple Minded wrote: and for mothers who want to go back to work to get away from their little barbarian off-spring. "Hey, if I can't make a big difference in junior's quality of life, I'm gonna go hang out with some reasonable adults!"
If accurate, it certainly makes a mockery of helicopter parenting.
Simple Minded wrote:Not a good study for social services advocates who would like a steady paycheck.
Quite.
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Nonc Hilaire
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Re: Nature vs Nurture | Genetics vs Environment

Post by Nonc Hilaire »

Children have a biological protopersonality called temperment. There is an interaction between parent and child which begins before birth and contributes greatly to personality development.

The 'tabula rasa' idea was discarded in the 1980's. Nature and nurture work together.
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Typhoon
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Re: Nature vs Nurture | Genetics vs Environment

Post by Typhoon »

Nonc Hilaire wrote:Children have a biological protopersonality called temperment. There is an interaction between parent and child which begins before birth and contributes greatly to personality development.
Yes, I don't think that article is arguing against this, rather that certain traits are more innate than previously believed.

[quote="Nonc Hilaire"The 'tabula rasa' idea was discarded in the 1980's. [/quote]

Perhaps by the biology and psychology fields, but it is still prevalent in the humanities and the social studies fields which seem to receive the most MSM attention.

"Gender is a fluid construct", etc.
Nonc Hilaire wrote:Nature and nurture work together.
Agreed.
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Re: Nature vs Nurture | Genetics vs Environment

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BQ4VSRg4e8w
She irons her jeans, she's evil.........
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Re: Nature vs Nurture | Genetics vs Environment

Post by kmich »

The Tangled Tale of Genes and Environment: Moore's The Dependent Gene: The Fallacy of “nature VS. Nurture”
Abstract

Nature–nurture views that smack of genetic determinism remain prevalent. Yet, the increasing knowledge base shows ever more clearly that environmental factors and genes form a fully interactional system at all levels. Moore's book covers the major topics of discovery and dispute, including behavior genetics and the twin studies, developmental psychobiology, and developmental systems theory. Knowledge of this larger life-sciences context for behavior principles will become increasingly important as the full complexity of gene–environment relations is revealed. Behavior analysis both contributes to and gains from the larger battle for the recognition of how nature and nurture really work.
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