The dichotomy of the “nature vs. nurture” debate has been a key topic of conversation within the realm of psychology and philosophy for centuries on end. How, you may ask, do genetics and/or our environment contribute to the development of our identities?
几个世纪以来，“自然与培养”辩论的二分法一直是心理学和哲学领域中讨论的关键话题。 你可能会问，遗传学和/或我们的环境如何促进我们身份的发展？
I don’t know about you, but I’ve always wondered what things in my life have led me to become the way I am. What exactly makes us “us”? Humans are innately complex beings, unlike any other species on the planet. We have much larger brains relative to the size of our bodies and a level of intelligence with which other mammals simply cannot compete. However, along with this intelligence comes the development of preferences, opinions, habits, thoughts and ideas. What determines these individual characteristics which make each person distinctively different?
我不知道你怎么样，但我一直想知道我生活中的哪些事情导致我成为现在的我。 究竟是什么让我们成为“我们”？ 人类是天生复杂的生物，不同于地球上的任何其他物种。 相对于我们身体的大小，我们的大脑要大得多，智力水平是其他哺乳动物根本无法与之竞争的。 然而，伴随着这种智力，偏好、意见、习惯、思想和想法的发展也随之而来。 是什么决定了这些使每个人与众不同的个人特征？
Advocates of the “nature” perspective typically promote the notion that our instinctive behaviour is a result of evolution, contending that genetics handed down from parents to their offspring directly influence the individualism that differentiates every single person to some extent.
“自然”观点的倡导者通常提倡我们的本能行为是进化的结果，认为从父母传给后代的遗传直接影响了在某种程度上区分每个人的个人主义。
Millennia ago, ancient Greek philosophers such as Plato believed that a certain proportion of individuals were born with “innate knowledge” present in their minds at birth.
几千年前，柏拉图等古希腊哲学家认为，一定比例的人出生时头脑中就有“先天知识”。
To a certain degree this may be true as every parent can agree that babies are born with innate characteristics, whether it is agreeableness, extraversion, conscientiousness or other attributes. However, nowadays, people have largely abandoned the notion that a person’s personality traits are bound to be passed down to future generations, as (especially in the previous century) this theory has been reflected in a fiercely negative light. Most famously, the Nazis implemented eugenics and compulsory sterilisation on people with traits such as neurodivergence which they deemed undesirable. Additionally, in less extreme contexts, many people believe that this notion is outdated and thus, not relevant to our society today.
在某种程度上，这可能是真的，因为每个父母都可以同意，婴儿出生时具有天生的特征，无论是友善、外向、认真或其他属性。 然而，如今，人们基本上已经放弃了一个人的个性特征必然传给后代的观念，因为（特别是在上个世纪）这一理论被强烈地反映在负面的眼光中。 最著名的是，纳粹对具有神经发散等特征的人实施了优生学和强制绝育，他们认为这些特征是不可取的。 此外，在不太极端的背景下，许多人认为这个概念已经过时，因此与我们今天的社会无关。
Instead, “pluralism” and “diversity” are now being pushed to the forefront of decision-making processes worldwide.
相反，“多元化”和“多样性”现在正被推到全球决策过程的最前沿。
On the other hand, “nurture” theorists, believe that our personalities are predominantly determined by our experiences and the people around us. Meanwhile, behaviourists believe that all actions and thoughts are influenced by the conditions in which we find ourselves. Therein, our ethnic background holds no weight. You might have noticed that there are inherent differences between different generations in approaching day-to-day challenges and learning, as well as ideologies and broad mindedness. If so, then you have first-handedly experienced the impact of environmental factors on our lives.
另一方面，“培养”理论家认为，我们的个性主要由我们的经历和我们周围的人决定。 与此同时，行为主义者认为，所有行动和思想都受到我们所处的条件的影响。 其中，我们的种族背景没有分量。 你可能已经注意到，不同世代之间在应对日常挑战和学习方面存在固有的差异，以及意识形态和心胸宽广。 如果是这样，那么你亲身体验了环境因素对我们生活的影响。
As a member of Gen Z, why might I have more in common with a girl my age from Nigeria, then perhaps my great aunt?
作为Z世代的一员，为什么我可能和一个来自尼日利亚的同龄女孩有更多的共同点，也许还有我的曾姑姑？
It’s simple. Technological advancements, specifically the growth of social media and online platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, etc., are at the centre of these global trends.
这很简单。 技术进步，特别是社交媒体和YouTube、抖音、Instagram等在线平台的增长，是这些全球趋势的核心。
I have never known a life without the existence of an iPhone. From the moment I was born, I was immediately connected with millions of people across the globe. I think this is an important conversation to have as I, for one, realise that my parents and grandparents do not share the same thoughts and ideas as I do, and thus, may not understand me the same way a person my age does.
我从来没有过没有iPhone的生活。 从我出生的那一刻起，我就立即与全球数百万人建立了联系。 我认为这是一次重要的对话，因为我意识到我的父母和祖父母没有和我一样的想法和想法，因此，可能不像我这个年龄的人那样理解我。
Consequently, this proves that in spite of genetics, environmental factors notably influence the ways we, as humans, process thoughts and ideas.
因此，这证明，尽管有遗传学，但环境因素尤其影响了我们作为人类处理思想和想法的方式。
To put these two concepts into practice, consider a psychopath, and what makes one inherently more of a danger to others than a neurotypical human being? Significant evidence suggests that psychopathy is mainly a biological condition, related to the underdevelopment of crucial segments of the brain, responsible for the regulation of emotions and impulse control, often resulting in an inability to empathise with others. Nevertheless, this doesn’t necessarily mean that psychopaths are inherently future serial killers. This only leads to a single, separate pathway; environmental factors create serial killers, not some biological abnormality. Thus, it is almost impossible to predict what someone will become in later years.
要将这两个概念付诸实践，请考虑一个精神病患者，以及是什么让一个人本质上比神经典型人类更危险？ 重要证据表明，精神病主要是一种生物疾病，与大脑关键部分的发育不足有关，负责调节情绪和冲动控制，通常导致无法与他人感同身受。 然而，这并不一定意味着精神病患者本质上是未来的连环杀手。 这只会导致一条单独的路径；环境因素造就了连环杀手，而不是一些生物异常。 因此，几乎不可能预测某人在晚年会变成什么。
You may even be in the presence of a serial killer at this very moment, and you would have no clue who they are.
此刻，你甚至可能正处在一个连环杀手面前，而你根本不知道他们是谁。
The future assassins may not know themselves either. I guess this is one of the things that make our lives dangerous and unpredictable, but “thrilling” in a way, because the future is unknown.
未來的刺客可能也不了解自己。 我猜这是让我们的生活变得危险和不可预测的事情之一，但在某种程度上是“惊心动魄”的，因为未来是未知的。
This also somewhat correlates with the concept surrounding “destiny”. According to Greek mythology, the three goddesses of the Morai set one’s destiny from the moment they were born. However, is it possible that our fates are not “written in stone”? Do our environment, the people with whom we interact, our culture, and the conditions in which we grow up, play a role in the development of our choices and opinions?
这也与围绕“命运”的概念有些关联。 根据希腊神话，摩拉伊的三位女神从出生的那一刻起就设定了一个人的命运。 然而，我们的命运有可能不是“刻在石头上”的吗？ 我们的环境、与我们互动的人、我们的文化以及我们成长的条件，是否在我们的选择和意见的发展中发挥作用？
We will never truly obtain a clear answer to whether it is our nature or how we are nurtured that holds more value in the development of our distinctiveness. It is also very probable that the degree of these variables might vary between different people, thus, it is impossible to come to a decisive conclusion. All that we can do is acknowledge the likelihood of both perspectives and formulate our own opinions as to what we think is right, and what makes us different (or similar) to every other person in the room.
我们永远不会真正得到一个明确的答案，即我们的天性或我们是如何被培养的，在我们的独特性发展中更具有价值。 这些变量的程度也极有可能因人而异，因此，不可能得出一个决定性的结论。 我们能做的就是承认两种观点的可能性，并就我们认为什么是正确的，以及是什么让我们与房间里的其他人不同（或相似）提出自己的意见。
