Is it Nature or Nurture? Choose Nurture Anyway

Summary of “Nature or Nurture? It’s all about the Message” By Michigan State University

“Telling people that hard work is more important than genetics causes positive changes in the brain and may make them more willing to try harder,” and this article shows why. The article states that by doing so, it “causes instant changes in the brain” from a study from Michigan State University. As it turns out, “the human brain is more receptive” to the message that “hard work trumps genes.” Contrary to that, “telling people that intelligence is genetically fixed may inadvertently hamper learning.” Scientists tested this theory two different ways. The first was in an elementary classroom. The children were “either praised for their intelligence of for their effort,” and the former “performed worse after their mistakes” whereas the latter improved. This shows that saying this has an “big impact” and “an immediate impact on how the brain handles information about performance.” The second experiment was tested on two groups of adults, reading two different articles. The first article talked about how “intelligence was primarily genetic” and the second talked about how “intelligence was due to a challenging environment.” Afterwards, both groups took tests, and the group that read that intelligence was not just genetics “showed a more efficient brain response” after they made a mistake. this study isn’t believed to have much to do with “Nature vs. Nurture,” but with how people respond to the messages the world is giving them (Michigan State University, 2014).

I believe that it is always good to assure people that their hard work and effort is essential no matter what. Even if it actually turns out to be all genetics and how your brain functions, no one would get anywhere if they didn’t try. When Gandhi fought for rights for the people he didn’t say, “Hey, I don’t have to try, my genetics say I can do this.” Of course he didn’t! He tried harder than anyone to make things right, heck, he even went on a hunger strike. He didn’t go around telling people they should only help if they were genetically good at it. He told them to stay strong and work hard. I bet that if no one on Earth ever tried at anything, we would still be living in the dark ages, we would bathe in rivers, speak jibberish, live in caves, I would definitely not be typing on this computer, and the fight between Nature and Nurture would not matter.

Michigan State University. (2014, September 3). Nature or nurture? It's all about the message. ScienceDaily. Retrieved September 14, 2014 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140903105757.htm