Nature vs. Nurture

• eye color: influenced by nature; our eye color is determined by the genes we inherit from our parents
• height: influenced by nature; our height tends to be influenced by the height of our parents; our height is not influenced by society
• intelligence: I believe intelligence is influenced by both; if a child's parents are both very intelligent, I feel he or she is more likely to also be born with intelligence as opposed to a child born to two very unintelligent parents; however, an argument could be made that the child's intelligence is affected by the nurture of his or his parents and their respective intelligence; by the time we can evaluate a child's intelligence, there has been enough opportunity for the child's intelligence to have been influenced by the nurturing of his or her parents
• weight: although genes linked to obesity can be inherited, I believe nurture has much to do with weight; society and the people around us influence what, when, and how we eat as well as the amount of exercise we participate in
• risk taking: influenced by both; some people are risk takers from early childhood, even if they have not themselves been exposed to much risk taking; however, many adventurous people become this way after witnessing others take risks and finding they themselves are also interested in taking risks
• profession: influenced by nurture; no one is born with a natural inclination to do one thing for the rest of their life; the interests and passions people develop through nurture and exposure to society and everything that fills society is what leads people to their professions
• athletic ability: influenced by a little bit of both; some people are naturally very clumsy or perhaps unable to participate in athletics as a result of inherited health problems; however, being raised in an athletic family makes it much more likely for a child to have athletic ability as opposed to one raised in a non-athletic family
• smoking: influenced by nurture; it is absolutely a choice; those who make the choice to smoke ignore all the knowledge we have about the hazards of smoking and allow themselves to give in to pressures of society or their own temptations for whatever reason
• music ability: influenced by both; some people are born without musical tendencies are capabilities; for example, being tone-deaf; however, society (i.e. family, school) can lead people to develop a musical ability
• violent behavior: influenced by both; genetics can cause people to exhibit violent, aggressive behavior; however people can also become this way as a result of some sort of suffering or growing up in a violent household
• heart disease: influenced by both; heart disease can run in a family but it can also be brought on by lifestyle choices
• mental illness: influenced by both; can be genetically inherited but can also be brought on by traumatizing experiences
• humor: influenced by nurture; I think what we are exposed to by society is what allows our sense of humor to develop as we grow older; if I lived by myself in an empty room as I grew up, I do not think I would have any sense of humor!
• interest in math & science or arts & humanities: influenced by nurture; we do not really know what interests us until we learn about and are thus exposed to both areas of study
• skilled ability to perform in math/science or art/humanities: can be both; some people just seem to have a real knack for numbers, for example, but skilled ability in both can also be nurtured 

I think nurture is a bigger factor in influencing one's personality and behavior because much of how we think and act is affected by what we are exposed to. Nature plays a large role in some things that have to do with the physical characteristics of our bodies, but behaviors and actions are usually developed, not born with. Some factors weigh heavily on this debate, however; experts argue over whether behaviors like smoking or even weight are determined by our genes and whether individuals can be blamed for becoming addicted to nicotine or for becoming morbidly obese. I think we can learn more from this debate by analyzing what science tells us plays a part in each of these characteristics and behaviors to see how much of it is really a result of nature. What is not determined by nature must be determined by nurture.