Nature vs Nurture

Nature is what we are born with. Those innate feelings that are encoded in our DNA. The instincts carried down, generation to generation. We are born with it all and we cannot help what we feel. There are parts of the brain unmapped. They say it is the soul. What's contained in those parts are things that are who we, as people, are. The human condition, as so many classic novels suggest. These things cannot be learned.

Nurture is what you grow up in. Your environment. You are taught things through the reward and punishment system. If you do something and it makes good feelings or gets you good things, you associate the two and therefore do that thing for that feeling. You are conditioned, as well. You can be conditioned in your interests, sense of humor, and many other things. You are, in essence, taught what choices to make.

They say our choices make us who we are, but it seems as though they make our life what it is. It's what's IN the choice that makes us. On the surface, it makes changes, large and small, to our lives. But deep down, the reasons for our choices are what truly matter. Our nature is what we feel but our nurture is what we do. Not always the same thing. We are but cups. We are empty at birth. And we are all different sizes and shapes of cups. We are filled with water, our nurturing. But, the water shapes to the cup. You are born with your size and shape. Nothing can change that. The only thing that can change is the water inside.

Both roles play a part. Nature decides what we truly feel in our hearts. What we know to be our own personal truths. What we are born with. Our conscience. Things can be passed down or mutations can occur. Or even divine intervention, if you choose to believe so. Nurture plays its role as well. You learn what to associate with what. Tradition, culture, and the like show you what is wrong and right in that particular society. But you only do these things for the reasons you are born with. And that just cannot change.