Nature Vs Nurture

Humans are notoriously malleable. We change and adapt to our surroundings and circumstances and have no limit to our ability to bend and mould ourselves as we see fit.

In this sense, we are more like chameleons than chameleons themselves. Chameleons only adapt their skin colour. We can change our whole identity, our mindsets and our skills to make the most of any circumstances.

Our brain has plasticity baked into it: it is ever changing and ever growing. New skills, new thoughts and new processes can get encoded at any age and any stage of life. Humans can never stop learning or evolving.

For example, a man or a woman can decide to learn to how to play the piano at the ages of 11, 41 or 61. They have a reasonable chance of getting adept at it any age with enough practice and dedication. Similarly tell someone they are in authority and they will believe it. Tell someone they are a genius and they will believe it.

However somethings are hard coded into us: our facial structure, our height and so on.

In the midst of this comes the question: how much of it is nature and how much of it is nurture? How much of our minds, personalities and temperaments are hard coded into it and how much of it depends on the environment we are raised and living in?

Many have tried to study this phenomenon for years and many have different opinions and findings. Some say we are definitely hard coded while others say it's all nurture.

I myself believe it's a solid mixture. We have elements that we cannot change but the vast overwhelming bits of ourselves are malleable. The core elements of who we are are certainly ones that we can work on, change and definitely improve on.