{"id":78,"date":"2007-03-06T09:31:31","date_gmt":"2007-03-06T09:31:31","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2007-03-30T07:59:35","modified_gmt":"2007-03-30T13:59:35","slug":"on-the-perennial-question-of-nature-vs-nurture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/archives\/78","title":{"rendered":"On the perennial question of nature vs. nurture"},"content":{"rendered":"

I always enjoy Dalrymple\u2019s pieces. Here he ponders on the current tendency to accept the notion that it is nature that determines behaviors.<\/a> <\/p>\n

He wrote, \u201cOur search for, and apparent willingness to believe in, or at least give credit to the possibility of, \u201cthe\u201d gene for complex social behavior suggests that credulity and inability to think critically did not die out with the advent of the Enlightenment. The will to believe is as strong as ever. We are like creatures so dazzled with our own technological prowess that we no longer think it necessary to consider the obvious.\u201d
\n
\nFor those of us with an interest in Christian \u201cformation\u201d this is an important question. Are people \u201cborn spiritual\u201d? Are women genetically disposed to being \u201cmore spiritual\u201d than men? (That would explain a lot of things, like church attendance, wouldn\u2019t it?). Can religion turn genetically \u201cbadly-behaved people\u201d into \u201cwell-behaved people\u201d? If genetics is so determinative of human dimensions closely connected with morals, faith, and ethical behavior, then what do we have to consider about enterprises that attempt to \u201ceducate\u201d people in those dimensions?<\/p>\n

And what statements can we make about theological concepts like \u201cfree will\u201d in relation to this? And to what extent can people be held personally responsible for their choices and actions if the answer tips one way (it\u2019s genetic) or the other (it\u2019s nurture)? <\/p>\n

I have no answers, just questions. What do YOU think?
\n<%image(20070217-IGMatrix100.jpg|100|131|I'm wearing my black sweater today.)%>
\n“Suppport bacteria–it’s the only culture some people have.” <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I always enjoy Dalrymple\u2019s pieces. Here he ponders on the current tendency to accept the notion that it is nature that determines behaviors. He wrote, \u201cOur search for, and apparent willingness to believe in, or at least give credit to … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-philosophy"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}