Intelligence

The debate of nature vs nurture is the discussion of what has a bigger impact on an individual’s traits: genetics or environment.

Nature: Those who would argue that nature is largely to thank for the individual’s ability to achieve greatness might point to his or her parents and see their level of intelligence as the reason why he or she is so successful. Perhaps the child developed early skills quickly and this would be used to show that the child was clearly “born smart.” Nurture: Those who would argue that a child’s intelligence was affected by nurture would look at the child’s educational background as well as how his or her parents raised him or her. These people would state that the intelligence level which permitted the child to be so successful is largely the result of the child’s upbringing and the school system.

Zdjęcie przedstawia zbliżenie tablicy z szachami, z której ktoś unosi Króla.

Personality

Personality is shaped by a combination of genetic factors and environmental influences.

Nature: Often it is easy to see similarities between a child’s personality and one or both of their parents’ personalities. In this situation, it would seem that the child’s personality has developed largely from the influence of the parents’ genes. Nurture: In some situations, children develop personalities, or tendencies toward certain behaviours, such as shyness or aggression, that can’t seem to be explained because neither parent demonstrates the same trait. In this situation, it can be argued that nurture is at play in the development of the child’s personality.

Zdjęcie przedstawia twarz mężczyzny, który zdejmuje z twarzy białą maskę.

Occupation

The choice of a career can be impacted by both inborn abilities and upbringing.

Nature: When children grow up to pursue occupations similar to their parents, some people seek to explain this by suggesting that a child may have the same innate talents as one or both of their parents. When the child of one or two professional athletes grows up to also become a professional athlete, that seems to indicate that nature may be at play. Nurture: Children do not always grow up to pursue occupations similar to their parents, even if they do inherit talent in a certain area. For example, someone who has two professional athletes as parents may want to pursue career goals that do not require so much extensive travel. The individual may opt out of a professional sports career in order to be more present at home for his or her own children as a result of having parents who travelled so much. In this case, nurture prevails over nature.

Zdjęcie przedstawia mężczyznę w żółtym kasku na głowie, który montuje licznik na ścianie.

Hobbies and Leisure

Early exposure to certain types of pastimes can lead to the creation of passions. However, individual preferences matter, too!

Nature: If a person was raised in a family where outdoor activities are the norm, is that individual destined to choose similar leisure activities as an adult? When people who were raised in an outdoorsy family go on to continue enjoying things like hiking, camping and gardening, some might use that to suggest that nature is at play. Nurture: Others might suggest that nurture is at play. Those who enjoyed outdoorsy activities in childhood and continue to do so as adults may choose that path because it’s the one that they have firsthand experience with. People who didn’t enjoy such activities as a child may go in a completely different direction as an adult. Being required to go camping as a child could lead to an aversion to such activities. In this case, nurture is definitely at play.

Zdjęcie przedstawia biurko, na którym widoczne są farby w słoiczkach, kartki ze szkicami i kolorowe kredki oraz filiżanka herbaty.

Creativity

Creative skills can be developed and improved!

Nature: Will a person whose parents are naturally very creative have the same talents? Is the child of a singer, dancer or artist destined to have natural talent in this area? Certainly there are child prodigies whose natural talents shine through with little nurture, but is this the norm? Nurture: A person with natural talent in a creative field still needs opportunities to learn, practice, grow and develop. Most people who have lovely singing voices still need vocal instruction, practice and performance experience to fulfil their potential. Natural talent often cannot develop without nurturing.

Zdjęcie przedstawia blat biurka, na którym osoba rozrysowuje mapę działań wpisując różne aktywności.

Obesity

Genes can make us more prone to develop certain medical conditions. However, with a healthy lifestyle, we can minimise the risk.

Nature: If a person has one or more parents who have a medical condition that causes obesity, will the child naturally be obese? If the medical condition is genetic in nature and can be passed from parent to child, then nature could play a role in whether or not their child is destined to have obesity. Nurture: If a person is obese solely because of their diet and exercise habits, then that person's weight is due to their own behavior rather than a genetic cause. However, if the person's children are raised with the same diet and exercise habits, nurture could still result in obesity. If the children are active and follow a more healthy diet, though, they might not become obese.

Zdjęcie ukazuje zbliżenie na wagę szalkową wskazującą początek szalki.

Criminal Tendencies

It’s hard to state what has a bigger impact on criminal tendencies - nature or nurture.

Nature: Some people believe that a tendency to behave in a way that violates societal laws is something that people are born with. If the child of someone who is a convicted criminal also commits criminal acts, some argue that the outcome was inevitable due to the impact of nature. Nurture: Not everyone who has a parent that has committed a crime goes on to commit criminal acts themselves. Seeing loved ones suffer consequences associated with criminal behaviour can cause someone to vow never to commit a crime, which would imply that nurture affects such behaviours. Additionally, not all people who commit criminal acts have parents or other relatives who have done the same.

Zdjęcie przedstawia samochód policyjny stojący przed budynkiem, z którego wydobywa się dym i płomienie.

Twins

Twins are scientists' favourite objects of studies when it comes to the imapct of nature and nurture.

The studies showed that even identical twins may differ because of the environment. It turned out that twins grow up with different interests, preferences and personalities beyond their physical similarities. The conclusion was that characteristics are influenced by both genetics and interaction with the environment.

Zdjęcie przedstawia bliźniaczki ubrane w jednakowe sukienki, trzymające na rękach małe kaczuszki.

Plants

Plants can also be affected by both genes and the surrounding in which they grow.

Did you know that the colour of a plant is controlled by genes too? Genetic material imprinted in the plants’ DNA determines their colour, growth, frost and drought tolerance, etc. A plant such as a tree, for instance, might also be influenced by its environment when it doesn’t receive enough sunlight or water. Lack of sun or water may influence its height or the amount of fruit it produces.

Zdjęcie przedstawia pole, na którym rosną tulipany w kolorach żółtym, pomarańczowym i różowym.

Crayfish

Nature surprises us all the time!

How did the experiment go? The scientists placed hundreds of these identical creatures in separate jars but in the same environment; the same water, temperature, the same amount of food. Although scientists tried to control the crayfish, something unexpected happened. It turned out that some crayfish grew big while others stayed tiny. Some died and others survived. The reason why it happened isn’t clear. The experiment shows how much still remains unknown about nature and nurture.

Na zdjęciu widoczny jest krab w kolorze niebieskim.