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Nature And Nurture Argumentative Analysis

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If I were to ask you on whether nature or nurture determines one’s traits, would you be able to answer me with absolute confidence? It is completely understandable if you are hesitant as both nature and nurture have something to boast about in their roles as determinants of one’s traits. There are studies that have shown that nurture is definitely the key that determines one’s ability and that science is increasingly showing that genes are becoming less an influence [James, December 27th, 2008]. However, with that being said, I believe that both are actually significant players. Researchers concluded that it is indeed a draw between the two [Tan, May 19th, 2015]. Beben Benyamin from University of Queensland collaborated with researchers from …show more content…

They discovered that genes contributed 49% while environmental factors contributed 51% to the differences in human traits and diseases [Tan, May 19th, 2015]. This shows that both nature and nurture have relatively equal significance. Supporting this finding, Professor Steve Jones asserted that many things are influenced by both nature and nurture at the same time [The Lost Lectures, December 11th, 2013]. He illustrated his point by using the problem of obesity as an example. He explained that one of the causes that lead to obesity is the absence of an appetite hormone called Leptin. The Leptin hormone sends signals to the brain as to when a person should stop eating. When a boy who has leptin deficiency is placed in an environment where a lot of food is available, he will eventually become obese. However, if not enough food is present, obesity is unlikely to happen. This demonstrates that both nature and nurture must work together to result in a trait, which in this case is obesity [The Lost Lectures, December 11th, 2013]. Similarly, scientists found that genes influencing one’s abilities in different subjects

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