Module 2: Nature & Nurture (Slides)
THE EPISTEMIC BASIS OF HUMAN PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
MODULE TWO
NATURE AND NURTURE
(Slides)
The Great Debate in Gender Studies:
Knowing what is natural to humans and what humans have been nurtured into.
NATURE: Substance and its constituents; that which is made up of atoms (Materialism); that which was created by God (Creationism).
MANUFACTURED: In Contrast to Nature: That which was invented, made, or produced (from what is made of atoms or created by God) by persons other than God.
We are born either Male & Female – XY & XX Chromosomes
Male: XY Chromosomes – (a) Penis, Testes that produce sperms, (b) pelvis bones different from that of a woman, (c) has about 13% body fat, (d) have larger brains than females without any IQ or smartness difference, (e) Prostate gland, (f) More Testosterone
Female: XX Chromosomes – (a) Vagina, Ovaries that produce eggs, (b) womb, (c) Pelvis bones different from that of a man, (d) have about 26% body fat, (e) has smaller brains than males, (f) Oestrogen or Estrogen
LGBTQ+: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer – (a) “I feel I am a baby” says a 60 years old, (b) “I will be better off without my eyes”, (c) “I am sexually attracted to my sex”, (d) “I am sexually attracted to both sexes”, (e) “I am trapped in my body; I will fully realize myself in a transgendered body with the help of science”
NURTURE
The cultural, religious and social grooming or training of a person into another gender (transgender), or the gender roles of a man or a woman.
MAN & WOMAN: A person who has been successfully groomed or trained (gendered) to behave in a given socially acceptable way with the mannerisms of manhood or womanhood.
Who nurtured boys and girls into the traditional roles of the past, and the current roles of the present?
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Humans have always lived in Groups and of Two Sexes: Male and Female (Evolution/Creation Theories)
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Socrates: Humans are social animals. Sociality is an essential attribute of humans.
Ptah-Hotep (2700 BC): (Prime Minister of the King and the Governor of Memphis in ancient Egypt): “Men began as brutes . . . and it is only through a slow and painful process that they learned to become human”. He recommends chastisement (suffering) in learning virtue, and discipline and training for children.
Feral Children / ‘wolf children’:
These are children who were “abandoned and forced to live among animals outside of human society”. (Samuel Koenig, 1957)
“The behavior of the ‘wolf children,’ Kamala and Amara, when they were discovered in India, was found to resemble that of animals rather than of human beings. They could not speak, nor show human emotions; they walked in an animal-like manner on all four limbs, ate raw meat, and in general displayed habits characteristics of jungle animals. Two isolated American children, Anna and Isabelle, were . . . lacking in some of the skills associated with human beings, such as the ability to talk, feed themselves, or follow simple directions. Even if, as some suspect, these children, . . . , were abnormal in mentality, their behavior was such as to leave little doubt that without contact within a human group man can hardly develop those characteristics which we call human, and that life in a group is indispensable for the human being.” (Samuel Koenig, 1957)
Ants, Bees, Wasps, and Birds display some orderliness, cooperation, planning, etc.
Social Life among Apes (Higher Animals):
Gorillas, Orangutan, and Chimpanzee display some “love and hatred, sympathy and empathy, friendship and animosity, genuine attachment, mourning over the loss of a friend, happiness and despair, a developed sense of belonging, and group solidarity.” (Samuel Koenig, 1957)
Note: The social life of animals, including apes, are “based almost entirely upon instinct, or reflex behavior, which shows practically no variation from generation to generation.” (Samuel Koenig, 1957) Thus they lack progress but have the advantages of social/ communal life.
Emile Durkheim (French Sociologist) and others: “the social group, society, precedes the individual, in the sense that the human being is a product of social interaction.” (Samuel Koenig, 1957)
Day 2
MODULE TWO
Nature and Nurture
CULTURE
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“Different cultures are different ways people react to different life situations.”
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Experiences of life are interpreted based on “the cultural background of a people.”
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“Hence, the same experience in two different cultures are ordered and categorized differently.”
EXAMPLES:
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Courtship: In most indigenous cultures in Africa, especially in Nigeria, no sex before marriage. This seems to be different among the Ashantis of Ghana (Wiredu).
2. Children in Marriage: In Africa, Children in marriage belong to the husband who paid the bride price. In Europe, it belongs to the sperm donor.
3. Lineage: In most cultures of the world lineage is patriarchal. Among the Ashantis of Ghana, lineage is matriarchal.
Religion is “the means by which God as spirit and man’s essential self communicate.” (Idowu, 1963, 50)
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There are many religions in the world: Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, African Indigenous Religion, Judaism, etc. In Nigeria, we have mostly African Indigenous Religions, Christianity, and Islam.
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Essentially all Religions are based on LOVE (although the understanding of this LOVE varies)
AFRICAN INDIGENOUS RELIGION (AIR)
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The oldest religion in Africa: The Supreme Being is worshipped via the gods or deities; Ancestors are revered and respected. There is religious tolerance, and their moral rules are similar to those of other religions (especially Christianity) except that it approves of polygamy, and the worship of God through any deity/god.
A Religion founded by Jesus Christ whose followers live the life of Jesus Christ.
It is essentially based on LOVE OF GOD AND NEIGHBOUR
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Christians obey God’s laws after the example of Christ who obeyed the SPIRIT OF THE LAW and not the LETTER (the debate in Philosophy as to whether a moral rule/law should be obeyed because God said so, or because of the reason God said so).
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Christians can be divided into two groups: Fanatical/Radical and Liberals
Reflecting on Quran, 5: 3, Adeyemo (2006: 133) said that “the religion of Islam was not founded by Muhammad but rather by Allah, it is therefore a cumulative effect of all the teachings of all prophets sent by Allah which got to its zenith in the Prophethood of Muhammad.”
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Thus, Muhammad is the last and greatest prophet of Allah, and Islam is the Last and Perfect Religion.
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For Muslims Islam is superior to all other religions, and the teachings of the Quran are supreme.
TEACHINGS INCLUDE
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Worshipping only Allah, Marrying up to a maximum of 4 wives with room for divorce, Praying up to 5 times a day, dressing code, Practicing Sharia Law, Perceiving “pagans” as infidels, etc.
Concluding Remarks:
Essentially, apart from biological differences and the roles inferred from them, every other difference we have from culture, religion, and society are things we were nurtured into, or manufactured and experimented on by science, especially in the areas of LGBTQ+.
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Can we change these cultural, religious, and social practices and beliefs?
YES WE CAN IF WE WANT TO!
Assignment: To be submitted by 6 pm on Wednesday next week.
1. What are the distinguishing features of that which is natural and that which is manufactured or made by humans?
2. Biologically, what is natural about you?
3. How have you been nurtured by your culture
4. How has the religion you profess nurtured your perception of reality?
5. To what extent has the society in which you grew up influenced your conception of reality?
6. Given the challenges of today, are there certain influences (nurturing) you may want to change?
Sylvester Idemudia Odia, Ph.D. (CEO)