Nature-nurture debate Essay Example for Free

Nature-nurture debate Essay In this task I am going to be going to be discussing the nature-nurture debate in relation to Morgan Freeman’s development through two life stages childhood and adolescence. The theories that I am going to be discussing in relation to the individual are Determinism Choice and interaction Biological programming Maturation theory Theorists and philosophers have argued that we are born to be the way we are and some have argued that it could down to the way we are brought, our environmental influences and surroundings that makes us the way we are. This is known as the nature- nurture debate. Nature is genetic. It is what we inherit from our parents for example eye colour Nurture is the social, economic and environmental influences. Determinism This is a belief that our future’s our determined by either what we have genetically or by the environment and social interaction. According to Morgan Freeman’s biography, he loved movies from a very young age and when he started going to school he appeared in a lot of school plays. I would say that he had the passion but the environment influenced him even more, however in this case I would say that the environment, the passion for acting determined what he wanted to be like in the future. When he won the State-drama competition at the age of 14 that probably added to his determinism environmentally. I don’t think his abilities were down to his genetic makeup because the plays he took part in school and the training to improve his abilities, skills and knowledge. I can also argue that he had the abilities but all he needed was some proper training and guidance to make him the actor he is today. His experiences through these things training and school plays probably made him better since he was a very shy person; I would not say that it was down to his genetic makeup because none of his family members or parents were or are actors. Choice and interaction This is the belief that we can control our own lives through the choices we  make. When you are very young your parents make your decisions for you but as you get into your teenage years you start to make your own choices with the help of your parents. Morgan Freeman from a very young age had the love for cinemas and acting so he made a choice that he wanted to become an actor. I don’t think his parents told him what he should do in the future; even if they did as he got older he still would have had the choice to choose whatever it is that he wanted to do. He had the free will to take control of his own life through the choices that he made he did not have to pursue acting. I can also argue that it could have been down to nature he was probably born with the gift of acting and that was all he knew apart from other careers he could have pursed. He had the choice to stop because at some point in his life he actually stopped when he joined the army this was because of the influences he got from watching movies that had aeroplanes. But he got bailed out and got back into acting because that was his real passion drama and performing arts. I would say Morgan Freeman’s future to become an actor was influenced by the environment because when he moved from Memphis Tennessee to Chicago that is where he developed the love for, he would scour the streets looking for looking for empty bottles of drinks to cash in. However I can say that it could have been down to both nature and nurture because if you have a certain talent in this case acting I think you are more likely to pursue that career and that if you are influenced by the environment for example going to the cinemas to watch movies that is a choice but that choice is influenced by the environment The movies that he watched and the plays he took part in at school made him want to pursue a career in acting. I think Morgan Freeman’s choice to become famous has been down to the choices he made because when he won the State-side drama competition he got exploited and he enjoyed the attention, attention could have been another influence of his choice, by pursuing a career in acting opened a lot of opportunities for him and he got recognition by the roles that he played, however his success could have been down to nurture because I think it all fall into place. Biological programming Morgan Freeman’s biological programming was down to his parents. He is 6’22† in height and I would say that his father or mother were probably tall. His  body shape and size would be down to nature, genetic inheritance for example if both your parents are tall and skinny there is a chance that one may grow up to be like that. However body shape and size can be influenced by the environment for example lifestyle factors what you choose to eat and drink. I would argue that his behaviour was probably influenced by his environment but also it could have been, the area that he grew in there was so much racism. He was very shy and that probably influenced his behaviour even more to be assertive and behaved. His behaviour changed as he got older with the influence of the environment and the choices he made. Maturation Theory The ability to speak a first language and some aspects of development are thought to be an inbuilt genetic process. In Morgan Freeman’s case his ability and a genes that he inherited from his parents, development to speak was probably a genetic thing I don’t think Morgan Freeman had any difficulties learning a native language. His development whether it was social, emotional, intellectual and physical was maybe because of his genes but at the same time it worked in correlation with environment that he grew up in, because genes cannot operate without an environment.