This post contains some of the best quotes on nature vs nurture.
Nature Vs Nurture
The nature versus nurture debate is a long-standing topic in psychology that explores the relative influences of genetics and environmental factors on an individual’s development and behavior.
This debate seeks to determine whether traits and behaviors are primarily influenced by innate characteristics (nature) or shaped predominantly by external influences such as upbringing, culture, and experiences (nurture).
Nature: Genetic factors play a significant role in shaping various aspects of our lives. Genes can influence physical attributes such as eye color, height, and biological predispositions to certain diseases. They can also impact personality traits, intelligence, and other psychological characteristics.
For example, studies show that certain mental health conditions, like schizophrenia, have a strong genetic component.
Nurture: Environmental influences, including upbringing, family, school, peers, and cultural surroundings, also shape an individual’s development. Social interactions, parenting styles, socioeconomic status, educational opportunities, and exposure to various stimuli can significantly impact a person’s behavior, beliefs, and abilities.
For instance, children growing up in nurturing and supportive environments typically exhibit higher self-esteem and emotional well-being.
Researchers now recognize that nature and nurture interact and influence each other reciprocally. Genetic factors may impact how individuals respond and adapt to their environment, while environmental factors can influence how genes express themselves.
Quotes On Nature Vs Nurture
1. “At a deeper level, nurturists question whether human nature should be the primary focus of the human sciences. Suppose that we are capable of behaving in ways that are not heavily constrained by our biology. It follows that human behaviour will vary dramatically from place to place.” – Jesse J. Prinz
2. “Babies are never suicidal. Hard lives, not hard boiled eggs do that.” ― Brian Spellman
3. “Beyond its appeal to many in the humanities and social sciences, this view of the human condition—a view that privileges the nurture side of the nature-versus-nurture debate—finds a receptive audience among many pragmatists and idealists.” – Eric M. Gander
4. “But there’s the rub. Why must culture be changed to accord with human nature, rather than human nature being changed to accord with the various cultures that we want to exist on this planet? The answer is that we cannot yet alter our fundamental human nature.” – Eric M. Gander
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5. “Even microscopic organisms, like the lowly nematode worm, are influenced by both nature and nurture. These tiny creatures are capable of associative learning.” – Jesse J. Prinz
6. “Every gene depends on other genes and on contributions from the environment. By ignoring these other factors, we exaggerate the role of nature, and we underestimate the role of nurture.” – Jesse J. Prinz
7. “History and man made each other.” ― Mokokoma Mokhonoana
8. “How far beyond your mother do you hope to get? You are not going to be a different woman entirely, so just be a slightly altered version of her, and relax.” ― Sheila Heti
9. “Human nature is back. The thinking now seems to be that a complex and richly detailed human nature really does exist, that it is to a very large degree scientifically knowable, that it di√ers markedly between the sexes, that it delimits a set of viable human cultures, and that, because of all this, it makes a big di√erence when we set out to discuss moral, ethical, and political questions.” – Eric M. Gander
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10. “I just suggested that both nature and nurture contribute to behaviour. This has become a platitude. Everyone seems to think that nature and nurture constitute a false dichotomy” – Jesse J. Prinz
11. “If naturists and nurturists agree that both biology and experience matter, then where is the dispute?” – Jesse J. Prinz
12. “If one is trying to decide where to stand on the nature-nurture debate, a .50 heritability score should not sway you in one direction over the other. Such numbers bring naturists and nurturists to a stalemate. ” – Jesse J. Prinz
13. “It doesn’t make sense to ask whether human beings are a product of nature or nurture. Obviously, the answer is both.” – Jesse J. Prinz
14. “Many academic fields regularly look beyond human nature. History, sociology, anthropology and literature would be unthinkable if they restricted themselves to what we do naturally.” – Jesse J. Prinz
15. “Most of us experience gender conditioning so young—research shows it begins in infancy—that we misunderstand the relationship between nature and nurture, culture and biology, fitting in and being oneself.” ― Thomas Page McBee
16. “Nature and nurture conspire together. One must keep both in view. But, if we are interested in a full understanding of human behaviour, then nurture is especially important.” – Jesse J. Prinz
17. “Naturists and nurturists agree that both factors are essential to human psychology, but they have fundamental disagreements that cannot be resolved by any simple compromise.” – Jesse J. Prinz
18. “Naturists say that cognitive differences between the sexes are built into the nature of our species. Some nurturists deny this, saying men and women are pretty much the same from the neck up, prior to the influence of socialization.” – Jesse J. Prinz
19. “Needs are imposed by nature. Wants are sold by society.” ― Mokokoma Mokhonoana
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20. “No one believes in blank slates or biological determinism, but there is still much room for debate.” – Jesse J. Prinz
21. “Nurture, in a chemical sense, is already inHuencing nature at the earliest stages of development.” – Jesse J. Prinz
22. “Nurturists who use the blank slate metaphor approvingly certainly don’t take it too literally. They agree that nurture can have an impact, but only in virtue of our nature” – Jesse J. Prinz
23. “One of the most startling conclusions from twin studies concerns the nature of these environmental factors. For many traits, geneticists have concluded that parenting makes no significant difference.” – Jesse J. Prinz
24. “Our first impressions are generated by our experiences and our environment, which means that we can change our first impressions . . . by changing the experiences that comprise those impressions.” ― Malcolm Gladwell
25. “The concept of human nature refers to things that human beings do naturally, in virtue of our biological constitution. Consequently, debates between naturists and nurturists can usually be reframed as disagreements about human nature.” – Jesse J. Prinz
26. “The nature-nurture debate has a long history. During some periods, people have favoured the view that nature exerts more influence on the mind than nurture; then opinion shifted the other way.” – Jesse J. Prinz
27. “The nature-nurture debate is a debate about human nature. Are we, by nature, primarily driven by innate, evolved and genetically controlled traits, or are we primarily driven by experience ?” – Jesse J. Prinz
28. “The problem, of course, with the idea of nature versus nurture was that it posed a choice between determinisms.” ― James S.A. Corey
29. “The return of human nature has been facilitated by the emergence of a branch of science now known as evolutionary psychology.” – Eric M. Gander
30. “The return of human nature means that the debate about the boundaries human nature places on human cultures is once again joined. Evolutionary psychologists say they have something valuable to contribute to that debate.” – Eric M. Gander
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31. “There is no debate about whether genes influence behaviour; controversy concerns the exact nature of that influence.” – Jesse J. Prinz
32. “To settle the nature-nurture debate, it’s not enough to point out that we do millions of things that are not genetically controlled. We ultimately want to be able to figure out what aspects of behaviour owe a significant debt to our genes.” – Jesse J. Prinz
33. “Too often, weary combatants in the nature-nurture debate concede that nature and nurture are equal partners, and then go on to emphasize one side at the expense of the other.” – Jesse J. Prinz
34. “When we assume that human nature is biologically fixed, we tend to regard people with different attitudes and capacities as inalterably different. We also tend to treat differences as pathologies. We regard people who think differently than we do as defective. We marginalize groups within our borders and we regard the behaviour of foreigners as unnatural or even subhuman.” – Jesse J. Prinz
35. “You inherit your environment just as much as your genes.” ― Johnny Rich
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