Nature Vs. Nurture

Anybody who has taken even the most basic of psychology courses knows what nature vs. nurture is, but in case this isn’t you I will briefly explain it. Nature vs. Nurture is the likelihood of genetics or environment impacting the person you become, it is a debate that is normally right down the middle.

The normal way to test this is to find siblings whom were split up at a young age for whatever reason, and to compare their personalities. Think “Parent Trap” type thing.

I was never sure where I stood on this until I began to assess my own life. When I was around the age of 5, for whatever reason, my mother gave me to my cousin. At the age of 7, my cousin adopted me. I was with her until the age of 13, when due to some ignorant, and devastating circumstances, got given back to my mother. The main learning phases I was with my “step mom”, however my older brother was still with my biological mom. With me so far?

I still live with my mom, and honestly am to the point I can’t wait to get out. My brother thinks this lifestyle is completely normal, while I see the flaws in it. My environment influenced me deeply in the younger ages, because my personality, my intelligence, my motivation, and much more are different than my brothers. My brother is just like my mother, however I see very few similarities between myself and my mother. Of course there are a few, as genetics does account for a minority, however the majority comes from environment, and trust me, I am living proof. My mother and my brother have always been very obese, however I stayed very active the whole time I lived with my step mom, and when I moved back in with my mom I was normal weight. However the pounds quickly packed on, because I was always told I was anorexic, and was told I wasn’t eating right, because I didn’t finish my plate. Their favorite dinner is 3,000 calories for a bowl, I wonder why I didn’t finish it [/sarcasm].

The other day I asked my step mom a little about my childhood from where I couldn’t remember. I was greeted with some shocking, and upsetting facts. When I was 2 weeks old my mom was mixing jello packets into water, and putting it in my bottle and giving it to me. At 3 months old she was giving me mashed potatoes off of her finger. When my brother was 14 he went to school with an empty bread wrapper full of Little Debbie snack cakes, as his lunch. She had packed it for him.

Now? My brother goes through a box of nutty bars in one sitting. He is 100% addicted to sugar, and eats it nonstop. He is also over 300 pounds. You are telling me this is genetic? No. It stemmed from how he was raised, and the fact that I recognize this is wrong, that stems from being raised in a completely different environment.