These pasts few weeks have shaped me to become sociologically mindful. Every little thing a family member of mine does makes me wonder if I do that action also. Because we talked about nature and nurture, this thought process makes sense.
Our class learned that nurture shapes a person and the way they turn out to become as adults. An example of this is when children are left to live with wild animals. It is not uncommon for them to take on the characteristics of the animals they grow up with. Additionally, we saw evidence of nurture (actually the loss of it) when we talked about children abandoned and abused by their parents. While they were given proper nourishment, they were unable to communicate like the should have been for their age. These children often times had to learn how to walk and talk. We watched a clip from Oprah where a young girl was discovered abandoned emotionally by her parents. She was mentally younger then she should have been, thus proving the point of nature v. nurture. Eventually, this young girl was adopted and her adoptive parents are working with her on her speech and walking.
This topic resonates with me on a deeper level. My family and I are very close and I am aware that I take after them in my actions. Since learning about nurture, I have realized that I am more similar to my family then I originally thought. For example, 11 years ago my grandfather passed away from Parkinson's Disease. While I only knew him for 5 years, some of my actions are shaped by him. I enjoy eating all the same foods he ate and even have some of the same favorite restaurants (Superdawg!). One night, I went to get a scoop of ice cream (the favorite dessert in my house) instead of putting my ice cream in a bowl, I decided to put it in a cup. As soon as I put my ice cream in the cup my dad mentioned that I take after my grandfather. Little did I know, my grandfather only ate his ice cream in a cup. I don't remember ever seeing him eat ice cream from a cup or conciously deciding to become like my grandfather, but this shift occured by nature. While my grandfather was only able to shape me for 5 years of my life, it was enough to change an action that I do nearly every day (told you it was a favorite in my house!).
The idea of nature is that we are born knowing these actions and it our genes that tell us what to do. While this is an interesting idea, I honestly believe that little me watched my grandfather scoop ice cream and was shaped for the future. I say this because no one else in my family eats their ice cream in a cup. If nature shaped us, my sister should eat her ice cream in a cup, since my sister and I share the same gene pool. My father would be the one to be influenced the most from my grandfather so I find it interesting that he does not use a cup for his ice cream. While my dad is normal in his ice cream eating habits, I see parts of my grandfather in him. Since my grandfather passed in 2003, he has still shaped my father and who he is today.
