Are we the result of equal parts genetics and environmental factors?
It seems the more that we learn about our genes, the more we understand how our biological processes and subjective experiences are determined by our DNA.
A cat experiences a completely different reality than a human does, so does a squid or arachnoid.
Does environment make them 50% different? Of course not – they experience life and behave in completely different ways regardless of environment.
Our genes determine both how we will adapt in response to changing environments and the fundamental design of our subjective experience.
to say it’s half genes and half environment is an attempt to put a positive spin on the human condition in line with the human tendency to attribute willfulness of a given object – the doctrine of free-will that helps us to rationalize our condition.
[we are also designed to think of ourselves as rational, willful entities - which has been disproven]
(in the old days before science, humans would see spirits in everything…)
Our minds are genetically designed to attribute distinct patterns to given objects – though in reality there is only ‘atoms and void’;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democritus#Atoms_and_the_void
or universe without distinctions born of Darwinian design
