Is personality determined by nature or nurture? New research suggests environment is stronger!!

DaltheJigsaw

Karma in danger? What I mean by that statement is that if environment is to blame for individuals personality changes, then we can assume Karma only works in certain orders? I'm trying to wrap my mind around this? Am I reaching into an area that should not be reached into? Should I simply take what is given and ignore the rest?

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2335681/Enviroment-stronger-genes-determining-personality.html#ixzz2VN4VnDy5

Theswingisyellow

It's a mixed bag, nature, nurture and our own decisions.

Citta

You are forgetting Leon that if karma -vipaka is indeed a determinative factor, that includes the environment in the wider sense in which purnabhava ( rebirth ) occurs.

DaltheJigsaw

Citta said:

You are forgetting Leon that if karma -vipaka is indeed a determinative factor, that includes the environment in the wider sense in which purnabhava ( rebirth ) occurs.

Ahh! That's a good point. I didn't think about that. Thank you for clarifying!

Citta

Kamma-vipaka will have an effect on both the nature of the receiving environment and the genetic loading...

lamaramadingdong

I used to be a staunch behaviorist, believing that people come into the world as a blank slate and that the environment makes us who we are. Then I had children...

karasti

@lamaramadingdong It's amazing the things you know about children and behavior until you have children, lol. I knew all about what my kids would be like and the kind of mom I'd be and how I'd raise them. Kids rock the boat like no one else! Sometimes I think the more sure we are of what kind of parent we'd be and what kind kids we'd raise, we're blessed with the complete opposite on purpose.

vinlyn

My personal view on this general topic is that it varies from person to person. Some people nature is a stronger factor, others nurture is a stronger factor. I'm not sure why people all seem to want something to be one thing OR the other.

Daozen

False dichotomy: nature is nurtured, and nurturing is natural.

karmablues

According to Bhikkhu Bodhi's article Association with the Wise:

Contrary to certain psychological theories, the human mind is not a hermetically sealed chamber enclosing a personality unalterably shaped by biology and infantile experience. Rather, throughout life it remains a highly malleable entity continually remolding itself in response to its social interactions. Far from coming to our personal relationships with a fixed and immutable character, our regular and repeated social contacts implicate us in a constant process of psychological osmosis that offers precious opportunities for growth and transformation. Like living cells engaged in a chemical dialogue with their colleagues, our minds transmit and receive a steady barrage of messages and suggestions that may work profound changes even at levels below the threshold of awareness.

Particularly critical to our spiritual progress is our selection of friends and companions, who can have the most decisive impact upon our personal destiny. It is because he perceived how susceptible our minds can be to the influence of our companions that the Buddha repeatedly stressed the value of good friendship (kalyanamittata) in the spiritual life. The Buddha states that he sees no other thing that is so much responsible for the arising of unwholesome qualities in a person as bad friendship, nothing so helpful for the arising of wholesome qualities as good friendship (AN 1.vii,10; I.viii,1). Again, he says that he sees no other external factor that leads to so much harm as bad friendship, and no other external factor that leads to so much benefit as good friendship (AN 1.x,13,14). It is through the influence of a good friend that a disciple is led along the Noble Eightfold Path to release from all suffering (SN 45:2).

.......

Association with the wise becomes so crucial to spiritual development because the example and advice of a noble-minded counselor is often the decisive factor that awakens and nurtures the unfolding of our own untapped spiritual potential. The uncultivated mind harbors a vast diversity of unrealized possibilities, ranging from the depths of selfishness, egotism and aggressivity to the heights of wisdom, self-sacrifice and compassion. The task confronting us, as followers of the Dhamma, is to keep the unwholesome tendencies in check and to foster the growth of the wholesome tendencies, the qualities that lead to awakening, to freedom and purification. However, our internal tendencies do not mature and decline in a vacuum. They are subject to the constant impact of the broader environment, and among the most powerful of these influences is the company we keep, the people we look upon as teachers, advisors and friends. Such people silently speak to the hidden potentials of our own being, potentials that will either unfold or wither under their influence.

In our pursuit of the Dhamma it therefore becomes essential for us to choose as our guides and companions those who represent, at least in part, the noble qualities we seek to internalize by the practice of the Dhamma. This is especially necessary in the early stages of our spiritual development, when our virtuous aspirations are still fresh and tender, vulnerable to being undermined by inward irresolution or by discouragement from acquaintances who do not share our ideals. In this early phase our mind resembles a chameleon, which alters its color according to its background. Just as this remarkable lizard turns green when in the grass and brown when on the ground, so we become fools when we associate with fools and sages when we associate with sages. Internal changes do not generally occur suddenly; but slowly, by increments so slight that we ourselves may not be aware of them, our characters undergo a metamorphosis that in the end may prove to be dramatically significant.

.....

In contrast, the Buddha continues, the good person chooses as friends and companions those who have faith, who exhibit a sense of shame and moral dread, who are learned in the Dhamma, energetic in cultivation of the mind, mindful, and possessed of wisdom. Resorting to such good friends, looking to them as mentors and guides, the good person pursues these same qualities as his own ideals and absorbs them into his character. Thus, while drawing ever closer to deliverance himself, he becomes in turn a beacon light for others. Such a one is able to offer those who still wander in the dark an inspiring model to emulate, and a wise friend to turn to for guidance and advice.

According to the Buddha:

With regard to external factors, I don't envision any other single factor like friendship with admirable people as doing so much for a monk in training, who has not attained the heart's goal but remains intent on the unsurpassed safety from bondage. A monk who is a friend with admirable people abandons what is unskillful and develops what is skillful.

— Iti 1.17

As he was sitting there, Ven. Ananda said to the Blessed One, "This is half of the holy life, lord: admirable friendship, admirable companionship, admirable camaraderie."
"Don't say that, Ananda. Don't say that. Admirable friendship, admirable companionship, admirable camaraderie is actually the whole of the holy life.

— SN 45.2

There are these four qualities, TigerPaw, that lead to a lay person's happiness and well-being in this life. Which four? Being consummate in initiative, being consummate in vigilance, admirable friendship, and maintaining one's livelihood in tune.

....

And what is meant by admirable friendship? There is the case where a lay person, in whatever town or village he may dwell, spends time with householders or householders' sons, young or old, who are advanced in virtue. He talks with them, engages them in discussions. He emulates consummate conviction in those who are consummate in conviction, emulates consummate virtue in those who are consummate in virtue, emulates consummate generosity in those who are consummate in generosity, and emulates consummate discernment in those who are consummate in discernment. This is called admirable friendship.

— AN 8.54

Chrysalid

It's both. There have been examples of identical twins separated at birth who are reunited and find that they share many likes/dislikes, personality traits, even their worldviews. In those cases though the twins were both raised in loving families, if you have a child raised in an abusive household s/he will learn to adapt to that environment, perhaps overriding any innate traits they have that might cause friction.

On the other hand, if a person with a psychopathic brain structure (yes, psychopathy is partly genetic) is raised in a loving environment they can learn to behave in accordance with society's rules and never harm a living soul. (As an aside you'll find many non-violent psychopaths in top business jobs as they enjoy having control over people, especially in the firing of people.)

Dakini

Personality is determined by 3 factors, IMO: 1: Nature 2: Nurture 3. Past life experience.

karasti

It is both, but there are a lot of things that can have a much stronger impact on us than we previously thought, things like diet and meditation, and exercise and even pervasive thoughts. All these things actually change our genes. So while 2 people in the same family might have the same predisposition to an illness, if one of them chooses a route with a well-researched and truly healing and healthy diet, meditation and yoga, and a healthy thought pattern they have a good chance of thwarting their genetic predisposition compared to if the other person who might choose a standard American diet with no meditation and immerse themselves in violent and negative activities and thought patterns. It actually changes our genes. It's pretty fascinating stuff. When we say things like "it's in my genes" it is actually true. Our ancestors eating habits, their hobbies, all those things actually become part of us, for good or bad, and we can feed it or not.

woods93

i feel like it's a genetic thing. every one's brain is different and the brain choses what influences it and what to pay attention to. at least that is what i think

Jeffrey

What is personality? Is it one of the sense consciousness or mind consciousness? What skhanda is personality?

footiam

LeonBasin said:

Karma in danger? What I mean by that statement is that if environment is to blame for individuals personality changes, then we can assume Karma only works in certain orders? I'm trying to wrap my mind around this? Am I reaching into an area that should not be reached into? Should I simply take what is given and ignore the rest?

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2335681/Enviroment-stronger-genes-determining-personality.html#ixzz2VN4VnDy5

Karma is not in danger at all. Nature is nurture since nature nurtures. Then, of course, in really natural situation like when flood and earthquake occurs and people die, karma perhaps has no role here. Karma is not to be applied in all situation.