Thought Paper

3 Pages 638 Words

Do Genetics, Society, Family Upbringing or We Ourselves Determine Who We Are?
Genetics are responsible for a range of things from how we look to the amount of time we will spend on this earth, but they do not determine who we are. Our society plays a role in who we grow up to be because we are highly conditioned by it. Our family upbringing will give us the values and character that will make up who we are. Finally there is ourselves, which is the final product of all of these factors. Since each of these factors play a key role in how we turn out, each decision that we make is not really our own but rather it’s the best decision we can make based on society and our upbringings.
Genetics are the blue prints for our physical body. They determine what color hair we will have, the color of our eyes and even what diseases we may acquire later on in life. I do believe that genetics determine our brain capacity, which may gear us toward certain personality traits, but they will not determine who we are.
As opposed to genetics, our society plays a huge role in who we are. From the time we can process what we take in from society we are being shaped and conditioned into what society wants us to be. The media portray one or a few sides of the society we live in. These portrayals are taken in by the viewer and either assimilated into themselves or discarded (but not without its influence). Society affects who we find attractive. In the early part of the 20th century for an example, full figured women were seen as very attractive. As time has passed society has now put a monumental emphasis on women being skinny. This is an example of the fact that as society changes so do our views opinions and perceptions. Other things conditioned or effected by our society are who we trust, what we where, what we eat, and even our hobbies. We are conditioned by society to conform and surrender to the role that it wants us to play. The remarkable thing ...