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Of course, you had to choose a Saturday to lay a prompt like this one on me. I have some serious thoughts on using logic and the inner workings of a mental nurture vs. nature concept.

I find the topic to be very mentally stimulating and it is one that I always wish to ponder philosophically because I find it so interesting. Mental health and the science behind behaviors is so intriguing already. When you throw in the concept of a fate or destiny as a driving force behind choices, I am urged to try and hash out the whole concept.

The Key Concepts

Fate or destiny takes the idea that everyone has a predetermined path to take in their life. I see this concept in religious followings. The real idea behind it, for me, is whether the thought that supporting genetics and influence through living has any impact. I often question whether a heredity aspect plus the nature of the environment a person is in is the real compelling factor that leads someone toward a likely fate that can be viewed as predetermined.

Nature looks at heredity. It falls into the category of what traits are introduced into a person through genetics from the parents. This can have a significant impact on how someone behaves. For example, I have noted interesting connections in how certain people react to a trauma in their family lineage based on my mother and her own inherited traits. Through reflection, I also noticed my daughter and I have similar reactions to situations, while people outside the bloodline will question our way of thinking in a specific situation. Many of these traits go beyond nurture as they are seen reflected in the stories I have been told and the reasonings behind different life choices, yet still reaching a similar response style to correlated situations.

Nurture is a learned response. This can encompass behaviors that are learned through experience, like a need to yell. My parents were very loud people and quite expressive as such. I am as well, especially when feeling passionate or angry. This response was nurtured into me through frequent interactions that involved, well, a loud tone of voice. I even have certain quirks to my personality that I never questioned until I had to live with people who thought I was quirky for having them. I eventually learned through nurture how some of these behaviors would not benefit me in life. My daughter learned through nurture a baseline tone of voice that is different than my upbringing.

Predetermined Biology

Combine all of this with the concept of a predetermined destiny based on many biological factors that helped form someone’s mind. Does that mean their parents came together, had this individual, and all these nature/nurture traits lead to a destiny? Are they meant to fill a position in life based on their inherent understandings and experiences?

I cannot exclude that possibility. With the right mix of nature and nurture, it can set an individual on an innate path toward certain choices in life because they were born with a specific programming that put them in the right headspace for lessons learned through experience. They could, essentially, reach a specific point that will benefit from their combined set of skills born through mental/biological processes.

In The Real World

There is research out there that suggests that nature can be overpowered to some degree. This is known as epigenetics.

If you pull from Al Aboud, Tupper, & Jialal (2023), who studied different aspects of genetics and epigenetic mechanisms, changes in gene expression can be formed by making changes at a chromosomal level. ¹ So, would that mean that predetermined destiny of any form could be changed scientifically? That is a question I have to ask myself.

Of course, Holliday & Pembrey (2022) also considered environmental epigenetics and how nurture can change the nature of behaviors that are inherited. In this case, it is fully believed that epigenetics can cross generations. Learned behaviors can become natural behaviors across generations. This is actually a fact that is widely accepted. ² My best expression of what this study is noting shows up in the psychological world as generational trauma. The idea behind this point is that your grandma can react to a trauma and, without being present, you can inherit the traits she gained out of that nurture-type state.

Is Free Will Really Free

If you take all that I have mentioned here and pull it together, you might be questioning just how free the concept of free will really can be. If you have innate predispositions, which can lead you toward the concept of a destiny, are you really free in your decision making? Were you biologically set on a path with genetic traits that will guide your decisions?

Conclusion

I think the core of this writing prompt is much deeper than most people are willing to consider. It requires a lot of research and scientific knowledge for a true answer. However, in the short term, is it my place to force anyone to question their own beliefs on the topic? No. While I do not think someone set me out on a predetermined path, I do think that my innate behaviors and mental comprehension put me in a position to follow a path that correlates with how my brain and personality function.

I don’t subscribe to a specific path concept. However, I do think my inherited traits combined with the things I have learned in life are guiding me toward a form of choice, or purpose, that complements my core traits.

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Resources

¹ Al Aboud NM, Tupper C, Jialal I. Genetics, Epigenetic Mechanism. [Updated 2023 Aug 14]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK532999/

² Holliday, R., & Pembrey, M. (2022). Epigenetic inheritance: Transgenerational transmission of environmental information. Environmental Epigenetics, 8(1), dvac021. https://doi.org/10.1093/eep/dvac021