Are people born the way they are or are they shaped from influence?

Question

Take a killer for example. Would he/she be born a killer or would their upbringing/influences make them into a killer? Opinions are welcome.

Answer 1

This is a good question because there has been the "nature vs. nurture" controversy for some time now. There have been studies performed to determine what possessed an individual to kill - was he/she born with that particular instinct. I think they thought about this with Aileen Wuornos, who killed many men (ref: "Monster", played by Charlize Theron). She had a horrible upbringing and documentaries that interviewed her mother showed there was mental instability in the genes. So was she born to kill? In my opinion, no. Aileen became a "monster" due to the abuse she suffered. Psychological tests have shown that abuse, molestation, etc. can have a negative effect on victims and they could very well "act out" as a result of this.

Charles Manson - nature or nurture? I believe a lot of our society influences our decision to behave a certain way. We are all born with a clean mind without "baggage" or comprehension of negative treatment and retaliation. We learn these things when we are of a responsible age. Of course there are some mentally deranged individuals that commit crimes and do not comprehend the reason behind it. Understandably, the act itself was not something hidden in the gray cells.

Our society has a multitude of individuals who know the consequences of right and wrong and do not cross the barrier. That is nurture. Then there is that percentage that has been influenced by nature (knowing what lies behind the boundaries) that commit those crimes (by defense or otherwise).

Answer 2

i believe it's a mix of nature and nurture, if you're born with severe brain damage this will obviously effect most everything about 'you' obviously education and experience play a great role too. left in a dark room your whole life you won't develope language or learn how to make PB&J. as for a killer, i'm sure many people have many different reasons and unique circumstances involving thier physical self and the places they are that influence this.

even if a person is shaped by all of these forces society must still hold the vessel responsible because it is corrupt or broken and proven to do such a horrible thing.

Answer 3

I think that some people are born the way that they will always be for example some people may be born stubborn and remain that way for the rest of their life. On the other hand, influences such as parents, friends, attitudes, and interests can drastically shape a person's character and in a worse case scenario turn into a killer.

Answer 4

My opinion is this: God made us and knows the kind of person that each of us will be. He has a plan for each and every one of our lives,patient. But, He did give us free will. God will not step in and take that free will away. The devil is the "prince" of this world and he is a major influence in society. The devil is what causes parents to mistreat their kids and what causes kids to get wrongly influenced. Kids who are mistreated and not taught properly and who are wrongly influenced are the kids that grow up and become menaces to society, like killers and child predators. My bible, patient, tells me that the devil is responsible for all the suffering on this earth. But, it will not be long now. Jesus will come back soon, patient. Praise the Lord! In Christs sweet love, Cat

Answer 5

it particularly is an exciting question. I stay in Portugal, and that i'm needless to say used to the way human beings look - they provide the impact of being quite frequent to me! yet i've got observed for an prolonged time that Brazilians, who communicate portuguese with a thoroughly distinctive accessory, tend to hold their mouth in an strange way, style of conserving the top lip stiff, and that this lip place style of enables the way their strange vowel sounds come out. so which you would be onto something. in spite of the undeniable fact that, many circumstances i've got been someplace, staring at somebody and questioning "they provide the impact of being often french, etc etc" and then they have unfold out their mouth and spoken english. So i think of often times it ought to be purely an phantasm...

Answer 6

No one is 'born to greatness' or anything else.

It is the environment you are raised in, the people who are around you that you begin to emulate, and the social life you adjust to.

There are numerous studies on this (although I have trouble thinking of exactly HOW they experimented with it) that show that all of the above factors will mold a persons psyche and persona.

Answer 7

Thats a hard question to answer M-Dog. personally, i believe that the environment in which you grow up, experiences had,, friends made, ands how you respond to certain influences in your life all create certain characteristics and vices that may lead that individual to do the unthinkable. i do not think the way you are born determines a persons personality or behavior. but that's just my opinion m-dog. later.

a-dog.

Answer 8

A psychic said that there are humans who become psychotic over being beaten, and molested. And when
they "die", they go to place like what the Catholics call
purgatory. A kind of Limbo, where they walk around
with soulless eyes, and nobody sees each other.
And when they reincarnate, they are born psychos!

KNOWLEGDE IS POWER!

Answer 9

I do believe that there are certain traits you are born with, but most of who we are comes from outside factors. Where we live, how we live and who we live with. Nurture vs. Nature I believe it's a little both, but more nurture.

Answer 10

that's the age old question, "nature vs. nurture". the answer is that there is no right answer, usually it is a combination of nature and nurture, sometimes more one than the other, depending on the specific case. but anywayz, i would say both.