Nature, Nurture, and a Third Party

I continually try to be provocative with my posts as I continue to cover a variety of different topics.  I want people to think, question, ask, etc.  It must be the Jesuit education I've received for eight years though I seemed to have always been one to question.  I'm going to continue to ask for your opinion as I write these posts.  I know people are reading these (I see the views).  This blog is a sounding board with the intent of inspiring.  As I've repeatedly said, I have many thoughts that inhabit my mind.  Some of these thoughts are right (depending how you define right) while others aren't so right.  Anywho...

I'd like to bring up something that has been bugging me for quite some time.  To be honest,  I originally planned on writing about this topic for my second or third post way back when. I've finally decided to throw it out there.  Following the trend of my recent posts, I'm going to try and keep this thought relatively brief and concise.  I will try to avoid verbosity as I want to make the point, offer some insight, and then ask you to think.

Nature vs. Nature

I'm not sure about you, but I know especially since high school the nature/nurture debate has been brought up a ton, especially in classes.  For a long time, it seems, people have been debating whether one plays a larger role in the growth of an individual than the other.  Many arguments have been made, many theories have percolated, and much progress has been made.  I think it's relatively safe to say that generally speaking people today mostly agree that it's a pretty even contribution.  As with many things, we don't have a quantifiable test to determine the true value, but through observations it seems pretty evident both nature and nurture play a role in shaping an individual.  It's hard to argue one really plays a  more pertinent role than the other; however, I think on individual bases one could argue for nature over nurture or vice versa.

That's all fine and dandy, and I'm glad we can generally agree especially since we can't seem to agree on much these days.  I'd like to offer a third player in the shaping of a person.  Maybe not so much the shaping, but the trajectory of an individual's life.  What compiles their being, if you will.  When considering an individual and what happens in his or her life, I posit free will must be taken into consideration.  Free will might not be the best diction--maybe I'm think more about will, determination, etc.  I'm going to stick with free will, though, until I can think of something better or you can give me something better (see what I just did there?). 

So...

This addition to the equation is somewhat tricky.  Free will/will/determination sounds like something that would fall into the category of nature as it is stems from (presumable) our biological makeup rather than our surroundings.  True, very true.  I'd like you to keep an open mind though and view it as a separate entity.  

Two examples:

My brother, sister, and myself have the same parents and grew up facing similar circumstances.  Yet, our paths are all different.  We are all driven by different things; we all have our own ambitions.  Some things my siblings do make me scratch my head as I'm sure they feel the same way about me.  We have (basically) the same genetic makeup and nurture.  You could argue that our difference in drive/personality (I supposed) comes from slight alterations in genetics.  That could very well be true, but I just don't buy it.  We each exhibit personality traits similar to our parents and at the same time we exhibit non-similar traits as well.

I also can't help but consider this free will when considering really successful people who came from nothing or those who come from everything and end up with nothing.  It's hard to argue against the power of will when consider someone who is born into a family with a history of poverty and comes out on top. Numerous examples exist but look at someone like Jay Z.  I don't care what you think of the guy's art, he made himself into something purely by willing it and now he runs so much.  It's incredible.  Conversely, there are innumerable celebrity or even non-celebrity kids who come are born into great situations yet fail to do anything with their lives.  Yes, just because you have a crappy home life or rich parents won't dictate your childhood to be one way or another.  I'm just saying it's hard to deny these scenarios and their outcomes when there are equally as many that follow the suit you'd suspect.

To wrap this post up shortly, I guess I'm just saying we are all faced with multiple forks in the roads in our lives.  I feel like our nature/nurture gives us the tools but it's up to us to choose the road.  If you are determined to undermine your circumstances, I really think you can (positively or negatively).  I just feel at some point we ought to take more responsibility of our actions and our beings, and make more conscious decisions or accept them at face value.  Will you find the determination to make your life how you want?