I was cruising around the forum, and realized that while "Serious Discussions" has covered a wide range of topics, we have not yet discussed nature versus nurture! Nature versus nurture is the debate that circles around whether traits, attitudes, and mannerisms are hereditary, or whether they are formed based on experiences. On one side, people argue that things like how a person behaves, their abilities, or even their intelligence quotient are all based on their genetics, and on the other side, they argue that people are born "tabula rasa" (or blank slate in Latin) and everything about them is based on their experiences during their formative years, id est, how they were raised . It might be useful to check out the below link for a better explanation:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nature_versus_nurture

So, what are your opinions?

Nurture, nature is a load of old shit.

It's both.

I also think it's both. A person probably does have some inborn qualities, but the experiences that the person is exposed to may influence them and also create new ones.

It is both, you need to put that option in the poll.

Alright, I fixed the poll to be a tad more compromising. *feels like a numbskull*

I was going to say tabula rasa, however, I happen to know a family that has several adoptive children, and while I've only met two, they are different from each other in almost every way possible (Hyper, superskinny, outgoing, short-tempered versus plumper, more introverted, and perhaps a little depressed). So, while I haven't looked at much research conclusively, I figure there's some merit to the genetic theory. However, being raised at different times, they probably have a difference in how they were raised, and of course, they affect each other. I wonder if there's no way to prove these kind of things, since, of course, you can't raise anyone the exact same way as someone else.

To me, they're a mix of both. People are of course born with certain traits and personality sides, but different experiences, traumatic and otherwise can of course instill certain behaviors in people.