Nature Vs Nurture

7 Pages 1764 Words

The nature versus nurture debate has been a classic controversy among experts for centuries. Presently, there
is no clear conclusion to the dispute; yet, there are many hypotheses. Both sides of this controversy have been
explored thoroughly among researchers. The purpose of this paper is to prove that the mental aptitude of a
person is determined by his genetics, along with his environment, which affects it more.

The nature side of the debate argues that a person maintains his mental ability only based on what he is born
with genetically. Defending this side of the debate exclusively would be establishing that a person’s environment
plays no role in determining his mental aptitude.

There are some reasons for an individual to be convinced that genetics play a large part in a person’s
intelligence. When considering the biology of heredity, it is obvious that genes provide humans with their own
physical equipment, which is in essence, their basis. Genes and chromosomes are passed on from each
generation to the next. Therefore, without heredity, humans would have nothing to hand down biologically to
their descendants; and this idea of genetics being purposeless is clearly incorrect.

Twin studies are rendered on sets of twins; these include both identical twins and fraternal twins. They are
conducted to determine the comparative influence of heritability and environment (Morris and Maisto 82).“These
studies determine the heritability of a trait: to what extent the differences among individuals are due to genes,
rather than to environmental factors such as upbringing, nutrition, and schooling” (Wright). “Recent twin
research showed that the genetic contribution to happiness and stability are about 50% and 80%, respectively,
while life events have only a transitory effect on happiness” (Segal 55). Segal’s conception is not directly
concerning human intelligence; yet, if his statement ...