RE: Nature vs. Nurture
June 19, 2012 at 10:59 am
(This post was last modified: June 19, 2012 at 11:00 am by Whateverist.)
(June 16, 2012 at 10:18 pm)Annik Wrote: These instincts are on par with the instinct to suck, in my opinion. It's not a learned thing.
I once had a girlfriend who must have started off with that instinct but boy did she ever make it into an art form.
Seriously though I'm also fascinated by the question. Beyond the basic instinctual contribution every human is hard wired with, just what dispositions and quirks can be inherited? As others have said it is a hard question to answer but there have been studies of identical twins separated at birth which seem to indicate that the contribution of nature is much greater than many suppose.
Growing up when I did, with the prevalent cultural and familial examples of women's roles, I wondered at a young age what the essential differences are in the way men and women experience the world. Since we're as much sacks of hormones as we are computer circuits, there must be some differences but not necessarily to such a degree that the normal range of differences do not overlap for any particular aspect you care to study.
As someone who has taught mathematics to young people for quite some time I have noticed a couple of characteristics which seem to correlate along sexual lines. In terms of range of capability I can't say that I've noticed any differences. But there do seem to be two differences .. not that I know whether they reflect the influence of nurture of nature.
One is that boys tend to be more confident. Teaching honors section, girls have at times questioned whether they belonged there when they receive their first A-. Boys on the other hand will sometimes remain convinced that their poor score reflects a flaw in the test's construction. A boy that has never receive a mark higher than a C- may never the less entertain the notion that they are one of the brighter students in the class. Confidence for boys (though of course not all boys) seems almost evidence proof.
The other is in maturity and self-discipline. Girls have it in spades compared to their male colleagues. In general, they complete assignments more regularly and with more complete expression than the boys. There are of course many exceptions to every rule but these patterns jump out.
