Comments on: Nature vs Nurture?

By: Focus Changes Your Brain - Sources of Insight

Focus Changes Your Brain - Sources of Insight — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:07:12 +0000

[...] Nature vs. Nurture [...]

By: On Simplicity » Blog Archive » Weekly Links: Stinky Couch Edition

On Simplicity » Blog Archive » Weekly Links: Stinky Couch Edition — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:12:16 +0000

[...] when a Colleague Won’t Help, as well as Balancing Your Needs and Responding to Requests. The Nature vs. Nature debate is also one of the most interesting things J.D. has touched [...]

By: J.D. Meier

J.D. Meier — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:55:44 +0000

@Barbara – I think it’s a piece of the puzzle. It might be as simple as pain and pleasure. Feeling pleasure from what you’re strong at, and pain from what you’re not. I’ve found that some people are more about getting out of pain, while others are more about moving towards pleasure. I think this is potentially linked to “learned helplessness.” I find learned helplessness shuts people down from pursuiting pleasure and instead, avoiding pain. I think focus is also governed by where you are in Maslow’s hiearchy (below the line or above the line … or surviving vs. thriving.)

By: Barbara Swafford

Barbara Swafford — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 08:09:34 +0000

Hi J.D. – The part of this post I found interesting was about nature – “It wants you both to seek out your strengths and then to strengthen these strengths.” Might that explains why we often want to better ourselves?

By: JD

JD — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:23:36 +0000

@Cath – being skeptical is good. I think the key is testing and being your own best judge. The real question is where you gain more from — trying to change into something else, or leveraging what you’ve got. I know the answer is an AND, but that’s where I think the research helps us make smarter bets. The willow bends while the mighty oak breaks in the wind.

By: Cath Lawson

Cath Lawson — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 14:06:34 +0000

I’m always skeptical of this type of research and how exactly they reached the conclusions they did JD. I find it kind of difficult to believe the nurture v nature debate has been wrapped up so easily.

By: J.D. Meier

J.D. Meier — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 02:42:47 +0000

@Vered – What’s cool is now you can pin the rap on your kid’s friends and you’ve got the data to back you up.

@Sara – I like options too. On the other hand, it’s good to know we have a durable core. When you really think about it, it does make sense to make the most of what you’ve got over change to something you’re not. When I rode my streetbike off-road, I made it work, but it wasn’t happy.

By: Sara at On Simplicity

Sara at On Simplicity — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 21:48:19 +0000

I have to say, this is creating some cognitive dissonance for me as well. It’s just so, well, unexpected.

I guess I need to call up my best friend and thank her. Apparently we’ve been molding each other since kindergarten!

It’s kind of disappointing as an adult to think my personality is largely done being shaped, but I guess I kind of assumed that anyway. I wasn’t planning on switching into a wildly overemotional basket case anytime soon, but the option was intriguing.

By: Vered - MomGrind

Vered - MomGrind — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 18:59:36 +0000

As a parent, I love this. It takes a lot of the pressure off.