Which is more important nature or nurture?

Answer 1

50 - 50 I think.

Answer 2

Although you have not specified in what sense you mean 'important'; if you mean which is it more important to pay attention to, then I'd suggest it has to be nurture. The reason is you can't do anything about the nature component - it is fixed in our genes; but there is an enormous amount you can do about the nurture component.

If you mean which has the greatest influence on on outcome (e.g.personality, intelligence etc.) then is suggest that it's nature, because the extent to which the nurture component effects outcome is always determined by the basic nature of the individual. E.G no matter how much fitness training a person undertakes, if they were born with no legs they will never run faster than a person with two. The same applies to brain structure, intelligence etc.

Answer 3

I agree with "gorgeoust....". It depends on the circumstance.

If you are mentally or physically disabled in anyway (nature), you could be Steven Hawking or Rick Hansen and nothing could hold you back from having a huge impact on society. Or you could be born into a financially wealthy family with every opportunity (nurture), and end up being a very regular everyday person.

Obviously...good people can be mal-treated and end up dysfunctional. People with no money or assumed brilliance end up extremely fortunate by their own determination to do so.

Circumstance is a big differential in nature or nurture.

Answer 4

Nurture will always be more important when it comes to people. Mainly because we have the capacity to not just act in programmed (genetic) responses but actually choose an action based on thougth that its easy to see why nurture is more important.
We are the highest form of pack animals on the planet. And being pack animals we have learned that concern (love), education and respect make our lives better. So we have set up monumental projects of schools, from pre-school to Doctoral programs, and huge libraries holding the experiences of the generations before for the generations to come.
If you 'watch' popular culture and see the faults in it, then you can truly see how nurture is engrained in us. We search for love and 'family' (listen to what gang members say when asked why they joined); we search for acknowledgement and identity for who we are and what we do; and many complain 'no one told me that'.
Well if so many people (and it grows every day) feel like victims for not being told or taught then I'd say they want nurturing and not just 'do whatever makes sense'.
How could anyone deny nurture after having a child hug you, say thanks, or just fall asleep while leaning or you or in your arms.
It even happens with 'domesticated' animals like dogs and cats. They just dont want to be fed and have a place to sleep, they want to be part of the family life and they have very distinct genetic natures.

Answer 5

3: 1+2

Answer 6

Nurture is more under a person's control, so I think it's much more important to investigate nurture.

Answer 7

Nurture. nature can be programmed like pavlovs dog but nurture can bend the ways. Train up a child in the ways he should go and he will not depart from it. Provoke a child to anger and he will rebel.

Answer 8

The real answer is a BALANCE between nature and nurture.

Answer 9

Nature, overall, nurtures.

Answer 10

with the limited information you provide it is difficult to answer.

We don't have much control over 'nature'...who we were born to, our looks, DNA, etc.

We definitely have control over how we nurture those around us, and some nurturing can possibly overcome some shortcomings of what nature dealt us.

I don't think you can say one is more 'important' than the other since one is inevitable.

Answer 11

If you are asking this question as it relates to adoption versus natural parents. I would have to, as an adopted child, answer that it is nuture. Any animal can have a child, it takes parents to raise the child with love and compassion. When I had the measles, the chicken pox, had my tonsils out etc. it was my adopted parents that were by my side not my birth mother. I have no ill will toward my birth mother, she did a great service to me by giving me up for adoption versus having an abortion. But the only role she ever played in my life was to give birth to me. My parents raised me,loved me, taught me values and have been there for every aspect of my life.