Frank: It was 150 years ago when the phrase “nature versus nurture” surfaced in scientific literature and ever since a debate of which was more important in determining our personality, skills, interests, morality, and intellect, among many other characteristics has been a popular subject to discuss. It has been the opinion of many behavioral scientists that there is an even split in how these two factors affect our lives, yet we really do not know which of these two elements of nature and nurture is the most important. There is now evidence, however, that our genetic makeup (nature) and environmental influences (nurture) work closely together in concert to form who we are and what we become in life. What percentage each plays in who we are and become is no longer a valid question. The point is that nature and nurture work with varying degrees of impact.
Nature’s effect on who we are is determined by the DNA we are born with and that is contained within the thirty-six trillion cells of our body while nurture’s effect results from a process called epigenetics. This is defined as the process our environment and lifestyle participate in altering how a gene works without changing its molecular structure. In other words, nature and nurture do not work in isolation, they influence each other and help create each other and therefore us. What percentage each plays in helping define who we are is irrelevant.
Mark, as a man of faith, how does this explanation of human nature and behavior effect your concept of God?
Mark: There are questions that we can only attempt to answer, and the exact balance and composition of each of us, the precise combination of nature and nurture, is certainly one of them. Why and how we are who we are, how we evolve and become who we are, is an elusive exercise in discovery and identification.
Here is what we do know: Each of our lives is woven of both generational threads and genetic fibers, woven across numerous generations of our biological and spiritual ancestors. They themselves were composites of those who came before them, as well as the cultural, social, and environmental impacts of the times and places in which they lived.
Here is what we Jews believe: We were created in God’s image. The way we are constructed as human beings was intentional and by design. We are an undeniable mix of who came before us, and who we choose to become. Part of this is built in by patterns set in motion the moment we are born, part of what defines us in how we conduct ourselves through the ways by which we navigate our way in the world. The former is nature; the latter is nurture.
The God who fashioned us in His image, made both influences possible.
Frank, does it really matter how much is determined by nature, and how much by nurture? How can we ever really know about what motivates or defines us? Isn’t it better to reflect, instead, on how lives might “nurture” the behavior of others, towards becoming better human souls?
Frank: Mark, while we disagree on occasion, on this issue I totally agree with you. It really does not matter what percentage nature or nurture plays in creating us, however, since the genes we are born with, is something we have no control over, it is important that we are exposed to the appropriate type of nurture, since that is what helps augment or alter the person we eventually become. Nature working through our genetic makeup works in part, by helping create the very environment that further helps define us through the process of epigenetics. As Dalton Conley writes in the New York Times, “Genes and environment do not operate in isolation; they influence each other and to a very real degree even create each other.” Another way I like to think of this is that while nature loads the gun, nurture pulls the trigger.
This explanation gets more interesting as since 2009, scientists have identified, via approximately six thousand studies, more than 3500 traits of human behavior such as sleep habits, right or left handedness, extroversion, and educational attainment which are based on thousands of tiny variants contained along our strands of DNA. Since I believe in a God that created my DNA and influences me through the small still voice of my conscience, I feel as if I understand the majesty of God’s work. I also understand how important it is for me to nurture others and especially my children, in ways that will help them become better human beings. I understand that nurturing helps create a better world and aids in helping me feel that how I deal with others makes a difference.
As you have said, I am who I am due to a nature-nurture process that resulted from an enormous number of ancestors and individuals throughout many generations who shared DNA and helped nurture those with whom they shared that DNA. It is with this in mind that I delight in the knowledge that I am now a part of that process which will continue long after I leave this life.
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Mark: The nurturing of ourselves, as well as others, is the sacred work we engage in making ourselves and others into better human beings. We can change. We can improve. We can evolve. We can conquer the negative nature within us, brought by the harsh prior experiences and genetic codes of previous generations. We can also improve upon the strength of those positive contributions both transferred and translated genetically by those who came before us. We alone can make that choice to better ourselves, as others surrounding our lives can also better us.
That is the primary purpose of religion done right. Our shared Judeo-Christian ethics, values, teachings, and moral vision all combine in their goal of making us better human souls and better sacred vessels.
This was Judaism’s initial and inspirational gift to all humankind: The belief that no matter who we are, no matter where we came from or who we descended from, we are created in the image of the Divine. No matter what our nature, no matter what our genetic past, we believe we can be nurtured to become our best selves, our best reflection of that Divine image within us. We believe in the promise of nurturing a better and brighter future, for ourselves and the world around us.
Rabbi Mark Schiftan can be reached at mschiftan@aol.com
Dr. Frank Boehm can be reached at frank.boehm@vumc.org
