Title: Bad Dog, Good Dog. (the former title was my feeble attempt at begging for credit)
As sarahjessica pointed out in her post "sibling rivalry" I realized that human experiences and behavior are too complex to ever isolate without doubt the "root" of a certain behavior. So I wondered if we could perhaps get a better understanding of the "nature vs nurture" question looking at a simpler and more predictable animal, namely the dog. Now if you believe men were created as something more than just a genetic creature like the animals (which I do) you might say this wouldn't be an accurate parallel, but I would object that whether humans are a product of evolution or were formed from the dust by Gods own hand we have a lot in common with domestic dogs. But I digress... I wondered if the study of the behavior of dogs could support the case for either nature or nurture. Well apparently this thought is not quite as revolutionary i would have liked to think because I found many articles talking about that very thing. An aritcle i found especially interesting was at http://www.blessthebullys.com/id123.html. Ok, so its pitbull rescue site so its bound to be biased but it did bring up some interesting points. The one that really stuck out to me was its mention of epigenetic markers. Essentially these are uhh things (latin: thingimagiggers) that control to what extent specific genes are expressed. The article went on to say that these epigenetic markers are in turn influenced buy the environments and circumstances which we have encountered during our lives. It seems to be suggesting that perhaps nurture has the ability to alter our nature. In my mind that added an interesting twist to the debate. I would love to hear your thoughts.
[2] Nature v. Nurture: The mysteries of individually unraveled. http://www.livescience.com/health/060718_nature_nurture.html
Monday, February 1, 2010
Sorry, i was genetically incapable of posting this blog in time
Title: Bad Dog, Good Dog. (the former title was my feeble attempt at begging for credit)
As [2] Nature v. Nurture: The mysteries of individually unraveled. http://www.livescience.com/health/060718_nature_nurture.html
As [2] Nature v. Nurture: The mysteries of individually unraveled. http://www.livescience.com/health/060718_nature_nurture.html
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It says I posted this at 11:40pm on sunday when in actuality it is 2:40am on monday. I'm definitely not complaining seeing as 11:40pm is before the due time but i was just curious if anyone knew why this happened. A miracle perhaps? :). Ill take it either way.
ReplyDeleteI think the ghost of some grateful pitbull, perhaps.
ReplyDeleteMy rescue pitbull told me that if you log in to the blog and start writing your answer - the clock freezes at that moment; I however, would never stoop to such stunts. My pitbull, all 70lbs. of him is the biggest marshmallow, couch/lap dog that looks funny in winter coats that you ever saw. He has a head that can take my whole size 11 foot in his mouth, but seems grateful and happy to be alive. He has never shown a whiff of aggression toward another dog, but has been attacked twice over some ball or toy - I am all about the nurture, with a nice dash of nature to keep everybody honest. I hope that we never, ever know which proportions are the most important.
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