Nature vs. Nurture has been the ultimate debate among cognitive scientists regarding human behaviors. In college I spent a large chunk of my time on the subject as the field of evolutionary psychology was just taking off. This field is still controversial and with working theories like the “Madonna/ whore complex” (which originally came from Freud) this controversy is well deserved. these theories state that even gender roles and behaviors that we think we are making as a unique individual are all just genetics. That our genes cause us all to act for their survival and there is nothing more to it than that. That every person is at whim to a genetic code that decides who you will be.
Core to all of evolutionary psychology was one slogan, “survival of the fittest.” With the key word survival. That our entire DNA’s goal is passing along its genetic code to offspring and that meant having children, which required staying alive. That all human emotions and actions can be linked back to this one goal.
But I think we can say for SURE now that nature does not own human behaviors and can even override them. Looking at the children of Gaza who have been raised under Hamas where they are taught that their purpose is to die for a bigger cause…that does not square with passing along your genetics. No nurture has told them to die. As we have an entire generation of children being raised to die, to die as martyrs. To have their genetic code explode along with their bodies.
Therefore, I have conclusively concluded after years of interest in this topic, that humanity is a LEARNED TRAIT.
A learned trait.
Education matters.
Leaders of our universities matter. Voices within these halls matter.
Morality matters as it is a LEARNED trait. We are not just creating doctors, teachers, etc. We are creating the ethics humanity will run on in the future. TEACH your children that life matters and every life is precious.
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