Is it really nature vs nurture? The answer might be culture!

SIDDHARTH KACKAR

For decades, scientists have debated the influence our genes and our environment have on our lives This debate also brings to the fore the larger question of determinism vs free will. Both determinists and environmentalists have strong arguments in their favour and the debate is yet to be settled conclusively. It remains to be seen what impact our thoughts, feelings, and actions have on our own lives and on the lives of those around us.

However, human nature doesn't have to be determined by either one or the other. Recent scientific studies in the fields of epigenetics and neuroplasticity have supported the idea that both genes (nature) and the environment (nurture) can influence human development.

Epigenetics is the study of how external factors can change gene expression. An extreme example of this is cancer. Some individuals, because of their genetic constitution, may be predisposed to certain types of cancers such as the breast or lung. However, only a small subset of them develop cancer. This may be due to additional factors such as pollution, smoking, poor diet, or a sedentary lifestyle.

in the somatosensory cortex are activated and reorganize themselves leading to the development of sensation in the amputated limb. Discoveries in the field of neural plasticity have strengthened this line of argument.

Such genetic changes may also influence the mind. In fact, it is thought that genes mainly control our minds through the kind of experiences one can have in life. Such factors may be responsible for familial personality traits and mental illnesses. One possible reason for this great flexibility (plasticity) could be our extended childhood period when compared to other animals. It is said that babies are the R&D department of human beings and are considered the ultimate learning machine.

Studies have shown that babies perceive, judge, and remember far more than we, as adults, give them credit for. However, compared to the young ones of other animals, human babies are helpless and almost completely dependent on their parents. Generally, animals mature much faster than humans, for example, young elephants can walk and join their herd soon after birth. One key reason for the extended childhood of human beings is that we pass on key values and aspects of what makes us human to our children and these skills take a lot of time to learn and master. Perhaps the most important aspect that differentiates us from other animals is culture, which is based on empathy.

are responsible for imitation and empathy. Subsequent work by scientists such as Dr. V. S. Ramachandran has shown that they are activated both when we perform an action and when we watch the same action performed by others. Repeated firing of these neurons strengthens their connections and enables us to learn a new skill or response to a situation. Examples include monkeys learning to swing from branch to branch, babies learning to speak or walk, or wincing when we see another person touch something sharp.

Another example comes from the work of Indian-origin neuroscientist Dr. V. S. Ramachandran on phantom limbs. Following an amputation, patients may still feel the presence of the severed limb, quite vividly. These are phantom limbs, which are often extremely painful and nearly impossible to treat. Dr. Ramachandran reasoned that this phenomenon occurs due to rapid changes in the representation of body image in the brain following the amputation. Following an amputation, the relevant neural pathways

Empathy is quite literally the ability to walk in someone else’s shoes. It is the ability to perceive and consider another person’s point of view, and by extension, to imitate their actions. The development of fundamental skills, from language, tool use, and farming to modern innovations such as computers and artificial intelligence, can be attributed to our capacity to imitate and learn from others.

Scientists have long searched for the biological basis for imitation. The discovery of mirror neurons in monkeys is considered a critical development in this regard. Mirror neurons are so called because they human proportions. The chosen size and ratio of each body part depicted in the drawing were the result of his extensive knowledge of geometry and over 200 measurements of the human body. But, at the same time, the Vitruvian Man is anchored in philosophy and self-reflection. The drawing is widely believed to be an idealised self-portrait in which, according to the historian Toby Lester, “Leonardo, stripped down to his essence, peers at himself with furrowed brow and tries to grasp the secrets of his own nature”. of artistic expression, a common thread was the focus on capturing a single moment in time as perceived by the human senses. This could be a photo-like image of a scene according to the painter’s eyes or a portrayal of the impression a moment left behind. Artists portrayed ideas, real or imaginary, from a perspective limited by their senses. But, come the turn of the century, the fields of mathematics and science were revealing the world beyond human perception.

Of course, mirror neurons are far more abundant and densely connected in humans than in any other primates. These may have been responsible for the culture boom that occurred 60,000 years ago which resulted in the development of cave art and constructed housing. The exact reason for this is still unknown.

Mirror neurons also point towards a possible mechanism for free will. Numerous neurons fire in response to the various events we observe around us and subconsciously generate many possible responses. It is up to us to consciously choose the situations to which we respond and how we respond. Whatever their possible role in this deep philosophical question, one thing is quite clear, mirror neurons have played a key role in defining us as a species and in making us who we are.

These examples demonstrate that changes in the brain can occur later in life, even in fundamental aspects of human nature. I feel it is better to say that our lives are determined by nature via nurture, rather than by either one factor alone.

Science and art are often considered to be polar opposites of each other. One is highly logical and rational and beset by rules, while the other is highly creative and completely without rules. But science and art have much in common and their journey and evolution are intertwined throughout history.

Where better to start in the journey of science and art than perhaps history’s most famous polymath –Leonardo Da Vinci? As well as being considered one of the greatest painters to have ever lived, Leonardo’s scientific studies spanned across almost the entire realm of contemporary human knowledge. When he wasn’t spending dark nights peeling the skins of corpses to reveal an intricate structure of nerves and muscle fibres, he was looking to the stars to question Earth’s place in the universe or inventing the helicopter 450 years early. But for Leonardo, these were not separate pursuits. Many of his scientific works were also beautifully detailed pieces of art.

The Vitruvian Man, one of the most iconic drawings in Western civilisation, is both a work of artistic expression and a detailed scientific observation of

Similarly, some of Leonardo’s most enduring artworks are, at their heart, deeply scientific. For centuries the alluring smile of the Mona Lisa has had its audience enraptured, captivated by her elusive gaze, and this effect is entirely by scientific design. His dissections of the eye combined with his study of optics revealed the interactions of light and the retina and how this effects our perception of light and shadow. The result is an almost imperceptible flicker in the smile of the most famous yet mysterious woman in the history of art.

For Leonardo Da Vinci, science and art were one and the same. Simply a medium through which to paint the mystery and beauty of the world he saw before him.

But science and art are not just means of portraying our perceptions of the world, they also shape the way we see it, growing and evolving together as new ideas come to light. Never was this truer than at the birth of the 20th century.

Leading up to the early 1900s, art had progressed through many distinctive movements, varying in their levels of realism. Throughout the varying forms