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Anyone who suggests we know enough to state confidently whether "nature" or "nurture" is the predominant force in human development is either ignorant, deluded,
by StanislavPetrov 9y ago
Anyone who suggests we know enough to state confidently whether "nature" or "nurture" is the predominant force in human development is either ignorant, deluded, or both. The simple truth is that we have only begun to scratch the surface in this area. Its one thing to speculate, and entirely another thing to claim enough knowledge to make a confident assessment (let alone know for sure).
- toasterlovin 9y agoFWIW, there is actually a pretty great technique for sussing out the degree to which environment and heredity impact various traits: twin studies. Twin studies have repeatedly shown that genetics contribute from 30%-80% of the variance in most psychological traits. Interestingly, they have also shown that the shared environment (family, parents, socioeconomic status, etc.) has zero contribution to variation in psychological traits. All of the environmental variation is due to what is called the non-shared environment. I highly recommend a book by Judith Rich Harris called The Nurture Assumption if this kind of stuff is interesting to you.