Nurture vs. Nature is one of the largest arguments of all time and the argument has had many faces. Science will soon be and is eliminating this argument entirely. What we’re learning is that the argument is morphing from nurture vs. nature to nature and nature in as dependent and mutually exclusive events in a person’s life. I am both a minimalist and a maximalist. I am both an essentialists and a constructionist.
What we are learning about our species on a scientific level is that our brains are genetically far more complex and varied than the obvious physical appearance of genetics. Our unique brains that distinguishes our species in such a contrasting way form all the other species on this planet, is the catalyst of what will become our most complex form of scientific research into our species. Our brains are what caused us to walk upright, to make tool, to hunt, to survive. The most powerful research and new science into sociobiology, neurology is showing that of our minds vast array of differences is that the obvious prime directive is to survive and survival is impossible without a society to survive in. When our species experienced our last wave of genetic mutation we were highly socially dependent individuals. Our offspring is the most dependent of any species, we require loving affectionate mothers, and supportive societies to raise our young. This shows conclusively that we are a social species and this is the turning point in the research of nurture vs. nature argument.
This means that above all our brains are genetically designed to adapt to many, if not all, social environments to survive. What is also true is that with our vast array of social adapatablility that we genetically inherited we also inherited a set of predispositions that can be, “triggered” from the environment. This is the environment and biological component but it gives more power to the socialization aspect of things. This means that a child raised in the most fortioius of envidorments will have all the correct genes triggered while a child in the most corrosive environment will have all the socially negative predispositions triggered. The child raised in the negative environment will be told it was his genes that caused the animal, that he was defective from birth and that he is doomed to a life of social anomaly, and deviance. This is simply untrue because what sociobiology is displaying is that the environment was the catalyst for triggering a genetically socially deviant personality.
What this all means for the masculine personality versus the feminine personality is that our minds were designed to adapt the social constructs that were presented from birth. However, the question still lies that how many genetic predispositions exist amongst men and women. What I believe is that the genetic predispositions are far greater from individual to individual rather than from men and women. Some women will have very contrasting predispositions from other women and those inclinations will far more resemble other men than women and vise a versa. I think the greatest biological difference that will effect psyche is that of hormonal variability for men and women, such as higher testosterone levels in men and higher estrogen levels in women. Other than that it is not a black and white picture, each individual was born with their own unique genetic coding for their brain that is more varied that a fingerprint.
What I consider to be a feminist is different that the widely held social fantasy of the notion. Feminist is defined to be a person that supports the equal rights and equal treatment of women. Society has a very different view on the subject viewing a feminist to be fanatical, wanting the oppression of men and the supremacy of women, that women want to rule the world and subject men and often times a feminist is viewed as a lesbian. This is simply not true and has a very socially corrosive effect for the women’s movement.
In conclusion I would like to bring to light an idea for society. What if women and men were allowed to be individuals and to explore the full potential of their unique genetic predispositions, to pursue their individuality without repercussion, to purse the measure of their happiness without inhibition or prohibition on every level from the social to the constitutional? What if society allowed people to be who they were inclined to be and fostered a nurturing environment for individual expression, what then would the world look like?
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