Wednesday, March 20, 2013

17-20 blog question

Today in class we stumbled across the arguement of nature vs. nurture. where one side depicts that where you were born or the people you grew up around is the type of person you will become, whereas the other side says it where you come from or who you grew up around doesnt mean thats who you will be; you can become whoever you want and do whatever you want. which side do you believe in? Which side dis Dorian fall into?

17 comments:

  1. I believe in both sides in very different ways. I think that we are all born with things that we have to overcome and things that make us special, unique compared to everyone else in the world. But I also think the way we are raised can change who we are as a person. I don’t believe that people would be the same if they grew up in broken and unhealthy homes as opposed to whole and healthy ones. I think that people can only blame so much on each factor and what it comes down to is their choices. I believe Dorian was more on the nurture side or more so the lack of one. Growing up without a positive male figure in his made him not know when people are bad influences which ultimately it his downfall.

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  2. I completely believe that where you come from and who you are raised by makes you the person you become. This plays an enormous role in someone's life especially Dorian's. While Dorian was raised he was neglected which overall turned him into a helpless man who didn't know his own morals. Once Lord Henry came into his life and started to play the father figure he began to look up to him more and more. Since Lord Henry was such a bad influence, Dorian didn't know better

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  3. I really think it depends on the person. There are tons of people in the world that have gone against their upbringing and parents, whereas there's a significant amount of people who have failed to challenge the things/people/situations around them and have only followed them instead. I believe that it all comes down to if one is brave enough to challenge what they have and idealistic enough to strive to change their situation. I believe that Dorian is on the nurture side, since he really didn't receive much nurturing from his grandfather at all, whereas he received a lot of praise from others thus making him egotistical and self aware.

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  4. I believe that Nurture is what makes a person who they are. Dorian was in innocent man before he started hanging out with Basil and Lord Henry and living on what they told him. I believe that people are easily influenced by others and Dorian was heavily influenced by the people that he was with.

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  5. Nurture really seems to be the most reasonable way to classify someone's behavior. Most adults I know today speak about themselves based on their own parents or guardians, having the experience of being treated in a specific way affect how you grow up to be. Dorian is more complicated than this because when he is first introduced, he did not seem to let he cruel and neglectful family affect him, yet when he hears all philosophies and ideas from Lord Henry, he suddenly becomes more selfish and find himself above the world.

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  6. Nurture defines the individual which is why people inherit traits from family members and those who are around them. I know that I was shaped by the people in my life and without them I would not be who I am. Dorian is the same. Dorian is strongly influenced by those who are around him, particularly Lord Henry, because of the lack of nurture that he received as a child.

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  7. I believe that nature determines your personality, what you like and dislike. Nurture determines what you believe and plays a bigger part in how you will become. Many people are who they are today from their experiences as children. They were taught right and wrong by their parents and how to work with others by friends and peers. In Dorian's case how his friend treated him affected him more than his genetics. The only thing Dorian inherited from his parents was his good looks which are key to this novel. But I think Basil and Lord Henry played a bigger part in shaping Dorian into the soulless being became.

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  8. People as a generalization of their environment. However, there are exceptions to this Usama Bin Laden was the son of wealthy Saudis. This would show that some people are just born in a way that allows them to be who they become. This doesn't mean all people are born bad or good, some people's life experiences shape who they become. Dorian for instance, didn't begin life living a hedonistic lifestyle, because he was neglected, Lord Henry was able to have a significant amount if influence on Dorian, Dorian based on his life experience viewed Henry as a role model. Had it been somebody who had been a product of a loving family, they might not have even begun to live the hedonistic lifestyle. Instead he might of heard what Lord Henry said, ignored him, and gone on with his life in a normal way. This is nature v. nuture.

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  9. I believe that a person is formed by what is around them and that even though they are going to grow up to be their own person that there is allways going to be outside influance on them. Dorian is treated great by Lord Henry but in the end it is the influence of his action on Dorian that cause Dorian to become an evil person. Between Basil and Lord Henry they are able to form Dorian into a man who doesn't even like who he is. I guess that in the book we see both nature and nurture and in the real world we have a lot of the same thing.

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  10. I believe that people become who they are based on how they are raised. Nature almost implies a form of destiny, which isn't something I believe in. Dorian turned out the way he did because of how his Grandfather raised him. If his personality had been based on his nature or destiny (based on his parents' being together for love), he would probably have been a better man.

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  11. I believe that both nature and nurture play a factor into who we are. We have predetermined things about us that we can't change, our skin color, hair and body type. But along with that I believe that certain personality traits are a part of who we are. One example I can think of is a child with aspergers, they are born with that condition and it can't be nurtured away but nurture can help the child deal. Nurture I think plays a larger part into who we are though- it can change some and alter all predetermined things about ourselves. If two children who are the exact same grow up in two different homes, one is a loving family and the other is abusive the children will grow up to be very different people despite being the same at birth.
    I think that Dorian is a classic example of someone who is nurtured into the way they are. Everything about him that was originally determined changed because of the strong environment that he was put in my Basil and Lord Henry.

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  12. Dorian is depicted in the book as being raised by a nurturing aspect in the sense of he is learning how to act based on what others are doing around him. Since he wasn’t raised by a strong parental figure he falls even deeper into the nurturing aspect. His nature part of himself is almost non-existent. Our nature definitely has a huge impact on our lives since we are born with some instincts and traits from our parents, your personality is largely made up of genetics from your parents. I believe both sides work together equally to create a functioning human. They also are used in checks and balances. An example is if your nature aspect is toxic to your ability to form into a full-fledged adult, your nurture aspect will then take precedence. A real-life example would be a child abstaining from drugs or alcohol even if they were born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome or grew up in an environment where their parents are endangering the life of their child for alcohol or drugs.

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  13. This nature vs. nurture idea is very arguable, however I think that I would have to agree with the nurture aspect. There may be a few parts about every person that are set in stone, but I think the majority of what a person is like comes from outside influences, mainly parents. Our parents, along with other pieces of life, shape what we will become, and they are the foundation for the type of life you lead. However, this may also be in a bad way as some kids may never get along with their parents. I think the idea of nurture is definitely prevalent in Dorian's life. From learning about his terrible upbringing, along with how influential people are to him, we can see how much other people changed how Dorian turned out. I think at the beginning of the book Dorian was in some sense a "blank canvas" and as time went on, and people influenced him, this painting was created which showcased the inner evil of Dorian.

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  14. I believe that the typical human becomes who they are through a combination of both nature and nurture. While some parts of one's personality may be affected by genes passed on by your parents, such as a tendency towards alcoholism, intelligence, or even the tendency to be intro- or extroverted. But quite often, genetics can be overridden by exposure to a great amount of influence, or a life-changing event; for instance, a child that has no genetic history of violent tendencies, could develop them after spending a great amount of time around a violent friend. Now, to Dorian Gray, I believe that Dorian was mainly influenced by nurture, but later in life. Dorian has very little information concerning his parents, so making a judgment based on them is difficult to say. It seems as since his grandfather paid him so little attention as a child, most of the "personality molding" had to wait until he was a young adult and introduced to a very influential lifestyle as exemplified by Lord Henry's book.

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  15. I believe that people are influenced by those that are around them. For example i have had a similar group of friends since elementary school and we all share very similar values. I have resisted the temptation of alcohol because the people around me do not drink either. It has been helpful to have people around me who share goals of high achievement and strive for similar religious beliefs, I believe dorian is influenced by lord henry and shares his insight with dorian all the time which leads to him believing what he says, However, he has the option of always ignoring him and walking away.

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  16. I believe that nurture has a lot of influence on a person but sometimes nature takes over and makes a person someone else. However in Dorian's case, nurture made him his crazy, soulless person that he turned into. Dorian was changed by Basil and Lord Henry, they "nurtured" Dorian to be a bad person. He was greatly influenced by Henry and Basil because of his lack of true parenting.

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  17. Dorian fell into the influence of Nature. Nature took his course with him and he ended up pretty badly.

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