Many things make up who we are as a person. Things like environment, childhood, and something as simple as genes all make up who we are and how we act. These things shape how we act and how we view things, therefore shaping our identity. There are many other things that affect us as we grow, but I believe environment, childhood, and human genes have the most impact at this stage in our lives. Our environment has a huge impact on who we are and what we become. Where we grow up plays a large role in our futures. If someone lived in a wealthy, well maintained town or city, they would have a unique view on the world. They would probably go to a nice school, and own nice things. Their house would most likely be large, and the cars they …show more content…
I would agree with this totally. Things like money, siblings, how your parents treated you, how you spent your free time, etc. all were factors in our identity. These things can show us how we act, how we learn, and how we treat other people. My mother owns and runs a preschool in my house, so I grew up in a preschool. This was very beneficial to me because I was able to learn things and spend time working on things outside of normal schools hours. I believe this was a factor in my willingness to learn new things. Unlike some people, I have always enjoyed school, and I think that this is partly because I grew up in a school. This ties closely with environment, but it differs in that environment is more of where you grew up, opposed to how you grew up. If you had multiple siblings, you would act different than if you were an only child. You would have adapted to sharing things and compromises in situations. If you were an only child than you might be more independant. Your parents also contribute a lot to your childhood. Your childhood may be different if your parents were divorced, if one of your parents died, or if they travelled a lot. My mother works out of her home, so she was always free during the days. This was very handy for me if I had to stay home from school because I was sick or if I had the day off for a holiday. Something as simple as what kind of music your parents listen can affect you. My parents …show more content…
Genes determine everything about how we look and I think that in turn determines part of our identity. If we all looked the same, we really wouldn’t have a personally to match a face to. Some people look more like a parent than others, but we all collect most of our traits from our parents. This can affect ethnicity and race. Your height, skin color, hair color, eye color, and facial expressions can all come from genes, and all shape who we are. These things are chosen for us. We don’t get to choose what color our skin is, and we don’t have to let that dictate how we act, but I think traits do shape our identity. If we lived back in the time of the Civil Rights Movement, skin color would greatly affect who we are and how we are viewed. Although this isn’t as much of problem now, things like height can affect what we act like and therefore shapes our identity. I see that this idea could be debated. Some could say that how we look does not shape our identity, and that it’s what’s on the inside that make up who we are. I somewhat agree with this, but I feel that how we look does partly shape who we are as a person. If someone tells you to write down what you are like, wouldn’t you put down things like “I’m tall, I have brown hair, I have blue eyes, etc.”? I know I would. I also think that how we look does sadly affect how other people see us. If you see someone for the first time, most people judge them on how they look.
What forms Our Identity is individualization, no one is a carbon-copy of one another and there are many things that makes each person unique whether that be their ethnic background, personality, religious beliefs which can range from Non-religious, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Etc; In the book Uglies by Scott Westerfeld the book is set three hundred years into the future, with the government giving surgical operations which provides every citizen with the “Pretty” operation which makes everyone meet the standard of societal beauty.
At birth, every person is given a name, a birth certificate and a social security number. However, labels and documents do not identify who one is or who he will be. Family, environment, and circumstances shape an individual. At any one point in time, an individual may have one identity but at another given point, they may have another. What causes one’s identity to change? At birth, identity begins to form, shaping an individual; and while personal choice slightly influences a person’s identity, environmental factors weigh most heavily in molding a person’s permanent identity.
Our lives are defined by our experiences of growing up and of who people are when people are developing. Both, in their respective regards, are something that can be difficult to alter to the individual. Gender, race, classes, and other building blocks of our identity are always shifting to who anyone is and while a person can’t affect themselves, society can, and often does change their perspective towards their own identity and how they interact with the stimulation outside of their psyche.
The meaning, significance, and definition of race have been debated for centuries. Historical race concepts have varied across time and cultures, creating scientific, social, and political controversy. Of course, today’s definition varies from the scientific racism of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that justified slavery and later, Jim Crow laws in the early twentieth. It is also different from the genetic inferiority argument that was present at the wake of the civil rights movement. However, despite the constantly shifting concepts, there seems to be one constant that has provided a foundation for ideas towards race: race is a matter of visually observable attributes such as skin color, facial features, and other self-evident visual cues.
...lieve that races are distinct biological categories created by differences in genes that people inherit from their ancestors. Genes vary, but not in the popular notion of black, white, yellow, red and brown races. Many biologist and anthropologists have concluded that race is a social, cultural and political concept based largely on superficial appearances. (4)
The formation of our own personal identities often begin at birth. As you grow up your parents are a major influence on you. They teach you many things and help to shape your personal identity. They teach you the basics, from knowing right from wrong to your basic moral values. Your moral values are often built upon the basic morals your parents have and what they have taught you in return.
Although we often use race to classify, interact, and identify with various communities, there is a general consensus among scientists that racial differences do not exist. Indeed, biologists such as Joseph Graves state, "the measured amount of genetic variation in the human population is extremely small." Although we often ascribe genetics to the notion of race, there are no significant genetic differences between racial groups. Thus, there is no genetic basis for race. Our insistence and belief in the idea of race as biology, though, underlines the socially constructed nature of race. Racial groupings of people are based on perceived physical similarities (skin color, hair structure, physique, etc.), not genetic similarities. Nevertheless, we are inclined to equate physical similarities with genetics. Sociologists also use a temporality to argue that race is a social construct. The notion of race results from patterns from the signification of certain traits to different groups of people. However, these patterns (and societal notions of race) change over time. For example, the 20th century belief that "In vital capacity… the tendency of the Negro race has been downward" is certainly not commonplace among individuals today. Notions of race also differ across societies. Racial attitudes towards blacks, for example, are inherently different between the United States and Nigeria. These arguments all suggest that race is socially constructed. The lack of a universal notion of race means that it is not a natural, inherent, or scientific human trait. Rather, different societies use race to ordain their respective social
Inheritance, by Sharon Moalem, is a nonfiction novel that elaborates on what makes us who we are and why. Moalem states that even before we are born, our genes set up determines our lives. Our genes are adaptable sequences that can be altered by instances of trauma, simple dietary change, or just a small indiscretion. Through our experiences, our genes are changing and consequently limiting us. We have an unwavering predictable matter of the genes we have inherited from previous generations. Our future children could inherit many of our specific genes, good or bad. Even if our inherited
The first impression you have when meeting someone is their appearance, which makes it easy to judge people based on how they
In UNESCO’s statement, scientists also state that, “As for personality and character, these may be considered raceless,” meaning that we do not inherit our culture or full personality when we are born (UNESCO Statement). Our ethnicity, unlike society’s concept, does not have to be linked to our race. Instead, we gain our cultural and personal identity through our contact with our perspective environments. This is through our personal choosing. These include the way we speak, what language we speak, our clothing, religious and moral beliefs, and other cultural practices (University of
In today's world, society creates an impact on human life. More of an impact can be seen among family and peers. They can be found at home, work, and school. At home with family, identity can be created on the difference of having one parent, divorced or separated parents, no parents, abusive parents, or even negligent parents. For example, children who grow up without a father or mother figure tend to become more independent at an early stage. Another example is where certain experiences within the family such as constantly witnessing parents argue can cause one's identity to be confined and distant. But, some people shape their identity similar to their parents. Such as a son became a soldier in the army because his father was in the army. Siblings, if any, are also an influence on the social identity of a person. They either become your friend, mentor, or you...
A person’s identity is shaped by many different aspects. Family, culture, friends, personal interests and surrounding environments are all factors that tend to help shape a person’s identity. Some factors may have more of an influence than others and some may not have any influence at all. As a person grows up in a family, they are influenced by many aspects of their life. Family and culture may influence a person’s sense of responsibilities, ethics and morals, tastes in music, humor and sports, and many other aspects of life. Friends and surrounding environments may influence a person’s taste in clothing, music, speech, and social activities. Personal interests are what truly set individuals apart. An individual is not a puppet on the string of their puppet-master, nor a chess piece on their master’s game board, individuals choose their own paths in life. They accomplish, or strive to accomplish, goals that they have set for themselves throughout their lifetime. Individuals are different from any other individual in the world because they live their own life rather than following a crowd of puppets. A person’s identity is defined by what shaped it in the first place, why they chose to be who they are, and what makes them different from everybody else in the world. I feel that I have developed most of my identity from my own dreams, fantasies, friends, and idols.
Firstly, in order to compresence the complexity of our debate, we have to take in mind the definition of nature and nurture. Yes, is true that some of our characteristics are inherited by our ancestors, most of our physical characteristics, such as hair color and type; the pigmentation of our skin, those are a product of our genes thus our DNA (Jewel, 2007).
How many times have we heard the saying "Don't judge by appearance?" And how many times have we been thoroughly disappointed by appealing images of things and people? The answer is quite simple: countless.
Undoubtedly heredity is responsible for the growth of a person from the fetus till the end, for the colour, sex and all other distinguishing traits and features. However it cannot totally develop a person into an intelligent knowledgeable person. This is only possible through the exposure, experiences that a person gets from his surroundings, his environment. Man being the product of evolution has greater capacity of adaptability and he can adjust himself with any environment. Heredity and environment thus are equally important and together they determine our