Nature, Nurture, and Human Diversity

Something in this chapter that suprised me was in the twin section.. about twins seperated at birth. I've seen "The Parent Trap" but I guess I didn't believe that it could happen in real life. What I found more interesting were the extreme similarities between the twins. Like the first two were both named Jim, and both named their dog Toy. And then there was Oskar and Jack.. one was a Christian Nazi, and the other was a Jew. Yet they were also very similar, right down to dipping buttered toast in coffee. Who does that?

I also thought it was interesting was when they were talking about brain development. On the side of the page, there was a picture of a little girl playing a violin, and the caption said that children that start playing string instruments before 12 years old have more complex neural ciruits controling their left hand fingers (the ones that make the notes) than those that started after age 12. I found this interesting because I had heard that some things are easier to learn at earlier ages, but I had never seen proof.

Lastly, I found the cultural influences section interesting. It was probably the part of the reading that made the most sense to me because I have realized cultural differences before. For instance, in some native African cultures it is totally exceptable to walk around with next to no clothes on, while in Muslim cultures women are suppose to be COMPLETELY covered at all times.