Reminders

In my post titled “Operation Collaboration”, I had written a series of questions directed towards a one of my peers in EMC. What I didn’t mention was that I was also getting questioned. I was questioned by my peer and close friend, Silma. Now Silma was in a different spot, at least I think, when she wrote this post. While I had very limited contact with Shika, Silma and I saw each other everyday. Silma is one of my strongest supporters, especially in EMC. We often go to each other for advice on our project, run by our work with each other and support each other on each phase of our project. Therefore, Silma had a solid idea as to what I was doing. I found all of her questions impactful in someway. However, two of these questions really struck me. It served as a reminder in a way. These are the questions she posed me:

2/ In your second journal, you wrote about specific genes that might influence personality. I don't know why but that interests me greatly. I would love to know a little more about the genetics- even if the knowledge is limited. What other known genes affect personality?

3/ "The Big Five are found to be biological; it has been found that these traits are universal. However, it’s important to keep in mind that the Big Five are influenced by the environment. Therefore a person’s levels will be subjected to changes over the course of their life depending on who they associate with and what settings they inhabit." You had written about the biology of the Big Five and I think this is a essential question. Even if your research has shifted gear, how can you use biology or neuroscience to strengthen your arguments?

I feel like I’ve been consistently putting off, in a way, this genetics aspect. When I started focusing in on my project, I had to accept the fact that genetics wasn’t going to get me far in this area. While it did disappoint me, I chose to throw the topic into a corner for it to be looked at later. Recently, I have been brought up questions about genetics in relation to my topic but, I can’t answer them. Silma’s questions reminded me that it doesn’t matter if my focus shifted, I have to address genetics in some way. Frank’s Theory lends itself to some mentioning of biology and genetics but it’s still there for me to dig up. Just because genetics is a foggy topic doesn’t mean I should put it aside. Nature and nurture have a place in personality, this idea can’t diminish.