If scientists could unravel and decode every strand of my DNA…
and tally every reward I enjoyed and every punishment I endured growing up, would my life’s trajectory come as a pleasant surprise to them?
I sure hope so.
The Nature-Nurture Debate
If scientists could unravel and decode every strand of my DNA…
and tally every reward I enjoyed and every punishment I endured growing up, would my life’s trajectory come as a pleasant surprise to them?
I sure hope so.
Add some epigenetics to the mix–and the scientists have even more to ponder–as do we…
Thank you for your nice addition to the mystery of it all!
Not to mention an abrupt change in life circumstances or trauma (not to be confused with nurture): a sudden death, illness, disability, unemployment, homelessness, disaster, betrayal, famine, rape, war… to name but a few.
It comes as a pleasant surprise to me… ✨
The feeling is mutual, dear Ana. Thank YOU for not losing your personhood and humanity in a world that would just as soon strip it away from you.
Sometimes, I think the answer to this question is simple. We are just who we are. Whether we are aware of it or not, we decide. We decide to survive or not.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Diana.
It sounds like you had a challenging road, Frank. I’m not surprised you came out on top.
Thanks so much for the most kind and empathetic words, Gerald. No particular trauma involved… mostly just commonplace religious and political indoctrination that tried to bend this twig this way and that over the course of thousands of days.