Development of Human Values: Understanding the Role of Genes and Environment as Control

摘要

Values originate from the word ‘valere’ which means‘worth’ which guide us to lead our lives in accordance with socialapproval. Concept of values according to Cambridge Dictionary isthe worth of something. These can be intrinsic or instrumental.Values guide our behavior, provide direction for leading ameaningful life and promote individual and national well being(Kumar, 2008). They are defined as socially defined desires andgoals that are internalized through the processes of conditioning,learning and socialization (Indrani, 2012). Genes are the carriers ofheredity. The genetic component of human life dictates our physicalfeatures, the biochemical pathways, even the presence or absence ofdisabilities while environment has the ability to alter gene expression(Datta, 2007). Genetic activities mostly occur at the cellular levelwhile environment can be considered at macro levels such as oursociety, the nation and finally the global environment. Environmentalvariables such as (1) temperature (heat, cold), (2) particulate matter(gases, suspended matter), (3) light (darkness, light), (4) air(polluted, clean), (5) substances (teratogens, harmless substances) allimpact genes. The present study is unique as it aims at understandingthe role of environment and genes on development of human values,thus bridging the gap between sociology of values (coined byRadhakamal Mukherjee, 2005) and biotechnology. It makes anattempt to answer the age old question: what matters most-Nature orNurture? Meta-analysis of various papers and research articlesaddressing the role of genes and environment on human behaviorand value development has been carried out as part of this study. Thefindings reveal that human nature and behavior are controlled bygenes at the cellular level but the value development and enrichmenttakes place at the environmental level.