Discussion chapter 4: Development across the lifespan.( total words account: 300. Post1 Reply 2)

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Discussion for Chapter 4 — Development Across the Lifespan

Development is extraordinary. It doesn’t matter if it’s human or animal. It’s simply amazing how two microscopic entities like egg and sperm eventually give rise to a fully functioning infant. If you’ve never seen the steps involved, and you can get past the cheesy music, see this brief videoLinks to an external site..

Development is preprogrammed, but the environment also plays a key role. You may be born with great genes inherited from your predecessors, and you may be lucky enough that the combination of these genes happens to be in your favor. The odds of having a single combination of genes in all of the possible permutations that exist between your mother and father is staggering. Just combining the chromosomes gives you over 8 million possibilities. However, there are many thousands of genes in each chromosome. The actual number of combinations of genes between mother and father is so large that a single page would not hold all of its digits (and that’s being conservative). In other words, you are so unique that no one on Earth or at anytime during the life of the universe will ever be another you.

Add to this that the environment shapes you as well. It will change the way your brain is wired, how many neurons you will lose (you are born with all the neurons you will ever have – about 85,000,000,000 of them), which neurotransmitters will be releases, how much and when. In short, there is a unique interplay between nature and nurture that shapes you.

Harlow’s experimentsLinks to an external site. with monkeys demonstrate how our emotional development is dictated in part by how we were nurtured early on in life.

The Theory of MindLinks to an external site.that children eventually develop seems to be preprogrammed in our genes.

Other things, as studied in identical twinsLinks to an external site., are a combination of genes and environment.

Now let’s turn to more controversial issues, such as personality, intelligence, and sexual orientation. Select one of these. What plays a larger role? Nature or nurture? I expect people to have opinions on that matter. Unfortunately, opinions are just that: opinions. I’d like you to support your arguments with facts. I’d also like you to be kind in forming your argument. Realize you may offend others. Also, please refrain from using religion in your argument. I respect the fact that you may hold a belief you hold dear, and that you may use it as your source of knowledge. However, this class relies heavily and solely on science. So only scientifically-researched statements will do for our purpose here. If, for example, you hold strong beliefs about homosexuality that cannot be verified scientifically, then select something else (like personality or intelligence).

Now have at it. Let’s see if we can have a constructive debate about these things…

Two post need reply:

First post: Adriana Armas: For this debate I will pick personality as my topic of interest. I believe that nature vs nurture plays an important role in understanding how our personality is formed; For instance, nature (genetics) can influence various aspects of our personality, like our temperament and emotional intelligence, as well as conditions such as anxiety and depression, these are mental health problems that have been proven to be influenced by genetic components. In the other hand, the environment in which we are grew up (Nature) has an influence on who we are today. A child that grows up in a caring and loving home will most likely have a stronger self-esteem than a child who grew up in a hostile home environment. Another important factor in this category would be social influences, the people you surround yourself with and the people in your community can definitely shape your values and beliefs and they teach you how to navigate in social settings. Lastly, trauma and life failures can also shape your personality; for example, someone who has experience the loss of a loved one early in life may become more resilient than those who have not yet experience a traumatic event like that.

It is difficult to say which one is more influential because personality is shaped by the interaction between both. While it may be true that for some people genetics play the strongest role in shaping their personality, it is also true that for others their environment may be more impactful.

second post: Jack Masterson: In my own personal opinion, and experience as a human, I believe that nurture and nature interchangeably effect how we develop in our lives. We are born with nature, as we inherit traits from our parents that influence our nature, these traits are absolute as we cannot pick and choose which traits will impact us, this is within our nature. Nurture however pertains to the traits we are influenced into acquiring, this could be beliefs, or oftentimes intelligence can be defined by a lack of nurture towards the brain. I believe that nurture is truly what defines our humanity and is more important to our development, the way we are born, and our inherent nature is only defined as a constant that we cannot control and yet nurture works independently allowing us to define things that are not set from our birth.

Nurture comes from many different factors of our development, environment, beliefs of role models, are all considerable factors into how we are nurtured in our lives. The way your parents believe towards certain subjects may pass down towards your own beliefs, you may find that your own personal beliefs are independent from your influencing factors, this act falls under nurture but stands under the self-nurturing path. Overall, I think nature is a persistent truth to your humanity, and nurture works to define over time, this humanity.