Nature vs Nurture
Nature vs. Nurture …
Nature vs Nurture
There is often debate about what has the most influence on our lives. Is it nature or nurture, or maybe a bit of both? This poem attempts to ask that question and discuss the issue in a very basic way.
Is it nature, or is it nurture?
There’s an argument for both.
Is it all purely by instinct,
Or are all behaviors taught?
Do you believe in evolution,
And survival of the fittest?
Or natural selection
To adapt to suit conditions?
At birth, twins have been separated
And raised by different folk,
Had no awareness of each other
And no chance to meet or talk.
Then, after 30 years they finally meet,
Have the same hobbies and jobs,
Both have a child called Anna,
And husbands both named John.
Or what about two siblings
Growing up in the same house,
Treated equally with love,
Then go their separate ways?
One becomes a surgeon
Renowned for saving lives.
The other robs and murders,
With no remorse who dies.
Perhaps it’s good or evil
That defines our path in life.
Not just nature or nurture,
But something more precise.
by John Hansen 2021
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For more works like “Nature vs. Nurture” by this author see John Hansen author page on The Creative Exiles.
https://www.creativeexiles.com/author/jodah/
You can also find great works by John Hansen with the pen name of Jodah on HubPages.
https://hubpages.com/@jodah
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Now I find myself branching out and experimenting with short fiction, and thoroughly enjoying this, especially flash fiction.
I have been fortunate to have two poems made into songs and recorded. The first "On the Road to Kingdom Come" by Al Wordlaw, and the second, "If I Could Write a Love Poem" by award-winning Israeli/British singer Tally Koren.
My services increasingly in demand as a freelance writer and I have ghost-written the text for a number of children's books and educational tutorials.
It has taken me many years of searching and restlessness to realise that my life's passion is to write. It saddens me that I wasted so many years not devoting to that, but thinking positively, the experiences gained over those years are now wonderful material for my stories and poems.
I want to try to bring a new focus on poetry and try to make it appealing to a new generation of young people and those who thought they never liked or understood it before.
- The First Word – A Flash Fiction Story - January 18, 2024
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- Weave Me a Story - June 15, 2023
Great question and excellent examples really make this poem interesting and a pleasure to read. I believe, based on your examples, that both nature and nurture play an important part in raising young. I especially like your examples of twins – it is amazing! Well researched, John, and well done.
Thank you, Phyllis. I am glad you found this poem interesting and enjoyable. There are arguments for both, and yes, both nature and nurture play a part.
Interesting thoughts here, John. Well composed and great rhythm.
I believe in a mixture of both but it is amazing how many siblings are so different in so many ways. I only have to look at my own family!
Hello Ann,
Thank you for reading this. Yes, I think it is clear that both nature and nurture have a part to play in what we become. But I agree that siblings can be totally different from each other.
I’m thinking that both play a huge part…but then you might have to consider a myriad of other things that helped shape each one person to become their own remarkable being. Too many things come into play along the way to teach us and help us grow…even into our old, old age. Your example of the twins does point to nature…and personally…I give “Nature” and its ways a carte blanche stamp. let Nature be nature. If it is by nature that things come about to who or what they will ultimately become. Then, I would give all things of nature credit to God…in my thinking.
Thaank you for your very insightful comment, Steve. Yes, God has a lot to do with it all ultimately.
Well done thought provoking poem John. Jamie
Thank you, Jamie.