Your Genes and Disease

Some genetic diseases and conditions are inherited from your family, while others are caused by changes or mutations in a pre-existing gene, or group of genes. These gene mutations can occur from an environmental exposure or randomly.

What is nature vs. nurture (definitions)?

In the context of the nature vs. nurture debate, “nature” refers to biological/genetic predispositions’ impact on human traits, and nurture describes the influence of learning and other influences from one’s environment. The debate over whether the strengths and weaknesses of people are the results of nature or nurture has, and somewhat continues to rage on between scholars and laypeople alike. This debate has had significant social implications, particularly concerning what is thought to determine people’s ability to learn/intelligence (Lynch, 2016).

What is the nature vs. nurture? Who created the theory?

The initial use of the Nature vs. Nurture theory was credited to psychologist Sir Francis Galton in 1869 (Bynum, 2002). However, it is unclear who initially described the impact of genes and biology versus environmental influences. Scientists, doctors, researchers, psychologists, behaviorists, and many others have debated these theories since Hippocrates was alive.

Around 400 B.C.E., Hippocrates described human behaviors as being biological, the result of four different body fluid types called the humors.

• Yellow bile
• Blood
• Black bile
• Phlegm

In contrast, many centuries later, philosophers Jean-Jacques Rousseau and John Locke independently thought that people are born as blank slates (i.e. “tabula rasa”) and that their eventual individual differences develop solely due to the result of environmental influences (Psychology Encyclopedia, 2017; Duschinsky, 2012; Nesterak, 2015). Twentieth-century behavioral psychologist John Watson shared a similar perspective, believing that the events that take place during early childhood have far more influence on what kind of adults we become compared to the effects of our genes (Haggbloom et al, 2002).