I remember observing a deaf child uttering their first word and reflecting on the extreme effort it appeared to take, and the unbounded joy exhibited on the faces of his parents. Were my parents any less overjoyed with my first (seemingly effortless) use of spoken language? The knowledge question implies that the value of knowledge is dependent on the level of difficulty in producing it. I believe that the production of anything new requires a degree of effort. However, to quantify the effort and equate it to value, whether personal or shared, is subject to inherent bias as our different perspectives influence our assessments (value judgements) and assertions (factual statements). I can appreciate that it may appear reasonable to quantify …show more content…
However, as humans and societies are constantly evolving, the behavioural patterns that are observed fluctuate over time. Although the knowledge produced is generated through an agreed knowledge framework, the theories established in the Human Sciences are not always clearly defined but are more often proposed using generalisations and trends. The value of knowledge produced is also subject to change, depending on the historical context. For example, within psychology the “Nature vs Nurture” debate, explores whether human development is inherent or influenced by the environment. During the 20th century, there was controversy regarding this debate between two anthropologists; Margaret Mead and Derek Freeman. Both anthropologists produced knowledge on teenage sexuality by observing a ‘primitive’ Samoan tribe, however, Mead’s findings on cultural influences (published in 1928) were proved flawed when verified by Freeman (published in 1983). Although Mead’s conclusions lobbied a new way of thinking and broke new ground within shared knowledge, her theories were only considered valuable during the time they were published. However, each scientist’s findings may have been distorted by inherent bias as well as influenced by different points in, as Freeman’s research was carried out 55 years after Mead’s. Perhaps in this example, it is evident that even though knowledge may be …show more content…
However, in my view, this overlooks other ways of learning that can considered equally valuable. Faith is a way of knowing that does not use scientific data to validate a belief or claim. In other words, faith is a concept that does not necessarily require concrete evidence in order for the knowledge to be truly valued by people. Since early civilisation, we have seen how faith and spiritual belief has influenced human behaviour in societies and influenced shared knowledge. For instance, Native Americans believed in spirits known as “Wakan Tanka”, thought to control the world around them and cause natural incidents such as floods. Subsequently, people used this knowledge to guide their behaviour believing it to have value. Even though today, the Natural Sciences have provided explanations for natural phenomena, faith in “Wakan Tanka” was a subjective commitment that enforced a universally shared agreement believed to be truly valuable. While it could be argued that ‘blind faith’ is easily produced and therefore should not be truly valued, faith can nonetheless contribute to our cultural identity by influencing a strong sense of belonging and thereby be considered as valuable for human interaction and peace of
Ceremony and rituals have played a vital and essential role in Native American culture for a long time. Often referred to as “religion,” most Native Americans did not think their spirituality, ceremonies, and rituals as “religion,” the same way that Christians do. Instead, their beliefs and practices form an integral and seamless part of their being. Like other aboriginal people around the world, their beliefs were heavily influenced by their ways of getting food, – from hunting to agriculture. They also did ceremonies and rituals that gave power to conquer the difficulties of life, as wells as events and milestones, such as puberty, marriage, and death.
In Chapter 19 of The Blank Slate, Steven Pinker discusses children which is one of his hot button topics. Pinker opens with a discussion on the nature-nurture debate - a debate pinning biology and environment against each other. Pinker states that Eric Turkheimer declares the debate to be over because he did a study that was completed over and over again, refined, and yielded the same results time and time again. Thus, creating the three laws of behavioral genetics.
The role of faith in people’s personal journey can be seen as multifaceted. Ultimately, it depends on what one chooses to put faith into. If we are being honest, growing up, faith was not a big part of my home life. My family is Catholic, and I was baptized Catholic- but outside of that, we never practiced our faith.
In the sacred mystery of the Incarnate Word, man can understand himself. Christ "reveals man to himself and makes clear his supreme calling, which is to share in the divine mystery of the life of the Trinity" (n. 13). Faith is man's obedient response to God's revelation (n. 13). By faith man accepts the truth of Christ's revelation which is guaranteed by God. Because an act of faith involves freely entrusting oneself to God and freely accepting His revelation.
Furthermore, faith helps the world by encouraging greater understanding and tolerance for various religious views, offering inspiration and direction to those who are suffering with their own faith, and bringing attention to the dangers of religious persecution and
As previously stated, evidence does interact with faith. When you have evidence that a friend is a person that does morally good things, such as giving to charity, you have faith that friend would never steal from another person. How, then, is the overlooking of hard cold evidence, such as a cheating boyfriend, considered faith and not blind hope? Faith, according to Merriam-Webster, is to believe, defined as “the feeling of being sure that something is true”, and trust, “assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something”. Faith does not seem to be the word you would use when describing putting all of your eggs in one basket for something you already know to be false.
What is faith? The word faith itself is an extremely tricky word to define since no one truly understands exactly what it means. Everyone defines faith differently so no dictionary definition has the ability or capacity to fully describe what faith means. The concept of faith is a recurring theme that arises in Elie Wiesel ’s memoir Night, and shares an abundance of parallels with Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel Persepolis.
The nature- nurture debate was a debate that was argued a while back. It is an argument till this day in trying to decide which theory in the right theory. The nature- nurture debate is basically a debate about how a human being turns out to be in their life and what determines that. The nature- nurture debate is how both influence a human beings performance. Some argue that people were born to be the way they are on the other hand the other theory is that people turn out the way they are depending on their surrounding and their lifestyle.
Even though these two anthropologists have rejected each other’s belief, they both have a solid evidence and argument which was obtained in Samoa. These later became a strong argument and division for anthropologists today. Question arises asking – which governs human nature more, nurture or nature? Anyway, this question is bias.
The nature vs. nurture debate centers on whether human behaviour and personality are inherited (nature) or acquired (nurture); in other words, whether a person’s environment or a person’s genetic inheritance determines their behaviour and personality. Goldsmith and Harman (1994) adopt a neutral position, in which both nature and nurture influence people, stating that they “believe that the fundamental issue concerns the interplay between characteristics of the individual and of the relationship” (54). Goldsmith and Harman discuss temperament and attachment for infant, with temperament being linked to the nature side of the debate and attachment being linked with the nurture side; as a result, the infant’s temperament influences the attachment bond between the infant and the mother, but the attachment bond influences the temperament of the child as well. Therefore, both nature and nurture interact with each other to produce people’s behaviour (Harman et al. 54). Andersen and Berk (1998) take on the nurture perspective, while Leary (1999) claims that nature is the determining factor of a person’s personality.
Faith is believing there is light when all one can see is darkness. Throughout Hamlet, Shakespeare uses belief as a guiding force for his characters. They are defined by their faith, or lack thereof, and their beliefs lead many of their actions. In this time period, so many people had horrible lives, faith in an afterlife was the only hope in which to keep living. The concept of an afterlife based on how one behaved in life is a defining characteristic of many religions, and Shakespeare uses this belief as the ultimate decision-maker in many character’s actions.
Now faith is defined as the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. In the stories The Song of Roland and Dante’s Inferno both main character’s faith was tested on their spiritual quest to salvation. Roland was betrayed and outnumbered by his enemies and Dante was lost in the darkness of sin. As each man faced difficult situations on their missions, both relied on their faith to overcome their enemy, persevered through obstacles and refused to turn back.
Nature vs. Nurture Extra Credit The debate in psychology whether and to what extent our aspects of behavior are either genetic or learned characteristics has been going on for a long time. Genetic is the nature side of the argument. Learned refers to the nurture side of this long debate.
Although the theory of evolution caused a stir on its own, what was most important to the Nature versus Nurture debate was the idea of our species changing over time. The idea of Natural Selection also contributed tot he debate. The phrase ‘Nature versus Nurture’ was coined by English Polymath, Francis Galton in his 1874 publication of English Men in Science: Their Nature and Nurture. Galton was Darwin’s cousin and he said in his biography that ‘The publication in 1859 of the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin made a marked epoch in my own mental development, as it did in that of human thought generally.’
Nature and Nurture Influences on Child Development Karla White ECE 205: Introduction to Child Development Instructor: Alesia Lane October 2, 2017 Nature and Nurture Influences on Child Development Describe the relationship between nature versus nurture. The nature vs. nature debate is the scientific, cultural, and philosophical debate about whether human culture, behavior, and personality are caused primarily by nature or nurture. Nature is often defined in this debate as genetic or hormone-based behaviors. Our genes determine the different traits that we have, such as eye color, hair, ear size, height and other traits.