Both Nature and Nurture (the way we are built and the influences of our environment) have an impact on our behavior, how we perceive the world, and how we interact with it.

ConserveLiberty takes the position that if an "80-20" rule applied, the determinants for our behaviors and perceptions would be 80% genetics, 20% environment and experiences. This position is a declaration, meaning, the statement cannot be rigorously proven at the moment.

If the "80-20" rule doesn't apply, then it is "90-10" !!

And, just to be clear, the way our environment influences our behavior and outlook is itself also dependent on our biology as well. We are a learning and adaptation machine (meaning our experiences influence and shape us) because we have been built to adapt in the way that we do!

There are number of "Personality Filters." For the purposes of this section, a Personality Filter is an aspect or trait or feature in the way that we are made that influences how we interpret or perceive the world, how we communicate or interact with it, and how we behave or act within it generally.

These Filters, like many of the other features that combine to make up an individual, ultimately have a biological foundation.

While we cannot adequately prove here that these Filters have a mechanism of action that is genetically based, there is such a tremendous amount of evidence that has accumulated over a long period of time that we will DECLARE that "the Filters have an organic basis!" We will then build upon that declaration here and throughout the other Personality Filter sections.

Some elaboration on the above declaration needs to be made so that the credibility of the assertion is given half a chance to be considered by the reader. After all, the Nature / Nurture debate is an old one, with evidence for both sides. Many reject the notion that our personalities and the way we see things has a firmly rooted biological (and thus genetic) basis. In fact, in earlier years, the suggestion that intelligence or outlook or behavior was something that one had limited control over flew in the face of the "Politically Correct" notion that "we all are created equal" and that "our limitations are the result of upbringing or cultural influences."

ConserveLiberty is not the first to dispatch with "Politically Correct" rhetoric as it regards behavior. Still, we offer up a few examples below that make a very rock solid case that personality is rooted organically - meaning that it is dependent both on our own personal chemistries and on the way we are "wired up."

Example #1 - Intoxication.

All of us are aware that our behaviors and our perception of things and our judgment of things can and do change when we consume alcohol or other chemical intoxicants such as cannabis, cocaine, etc. Just the previous sentence alone should be evidence enough that our behavior is dependent on the chemical environment within our brains. These intoxicating chemicals only have one way to influence the brain - chemically. They are interacting with the other chemical processes and structures within the brain that ... influence and inform our behavior and perceptions. Allow the intoxicants to clear from the body and the altered impact subsides. In effect, people spend their whole lives repeating this intoxicating experiment over and over again - thousands of times in a lifetime. Add the intoxicant, we get drunk, or stoned, etc. Allow it to clear, and we sober up. Very predictable. Very certain. Our intoxicants tell us that our behavior and perceptions have an organic basis.

Example #2 - Brain injury.

Many of us know people, or have read about them, who have had accidents or events that have resulted in brain injury. Could be an extended drowning incident. Could be a mechanical assault, such as a car or motorcycle or sports incident that has cracked a head and damaged the brain. Could be a cancer. In any event, damage to the structure of the brain often leads to changes in personality, the ability to interpret and communicate with the world, etc. Again, tragic, and ... very predictable. Scientists and neurologists in fact have mapped various functions performed by the brain by using these brain lesions as a guide. Brain structural studies tell us that our behavior and perceptions have an organic basis.

Example #3 - Medicated mental health disease.

Again, various pharmaceuticals are prescribed with the hope of moving the affected toward a more "normal" mentally functioning state. The take home - Our medications tell us that our perceptions and behavior have an organic basis.

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