After reviewing multiple threads and posts on theories regarding the manifestation of SG abilities I pose this. The underlying theme or "point" of the Heroes story is the age old discussion of genetics vs. environment. From a myriad of examples showing how each persons ability seems to directly relate to a character trait they possess or lack; or an environmental variable that they have been exposed to, it occurred to me that each Hero seems to be dealing with this struggle within themselves, both individually and as a group?

thoughts?

i dont get what youre saying... elaborate??

There has been an ongoing debate between two schools of thought that your genetic makeup or the environment that you are in is the deciding factor as to how you end up as a person. Some believe that your DNA basically determines what you'll like, dislike, how you will act, your responsiveness to pain/pleasure. Others believe the environment that you were raised in plays a bigger part, your parents, abuse, access to money and education, etc. It just seems that these two ideals fall almost right inline with both sides of every discussion here on this board, from abillity manifestation to Sylar - good, bad or both?

clearer?

I absolutely understand!

I really think this show is about desire. The longing for great power, the ordinary people who acquire it, and how they cope. Everyone in this show wants something so bad. Whether it's to find answers, get elected, become a manager...

Everything is about desire.

The nature part is the screwball here because these desires are manifesting as something which is a physical part of them.

Just thoughts...

In brief, your right:
The show is adressing this paradigm, among others.
Very good of you to pick up on it... What makes this show so high caliber is not only the intelligent way the've interlaced this dialectic [into the plot and dialogue] but also without Presupposition [bias] that one would/should have greater validity over the other... at least not yet and/or not overtly

But I believe the ultimate theme involves and element that responds to, yet also agitates them ---- "Free Will"... The impetus, act and result of our own sapience exercised. In other words, this: Not Only "I Think, therefore I AM" [Decartes] but the underappreciated [until vaguely, within the Age of Enlightenment and esepcially the last centruy] "I Choose/I Will... Therefore I AM and That which I Choose ... IS"... I am inlinded to believe that both tenets within the "Nature VS. Nurture" dialectic must yield to this... And what better explar/vehicle to express it than an Evolved Human --- an SG...

Cogito, Facio, Fio

I guess it's a classic debate.

Are we what we are due to our genetics? OR, are we who we are because of how we have grown up?

I believe a little bit of both. Our underlining characteristics comes from our parents, but we have ability to learn new stuffs and unlearn the old.

Genetics do play a role. Someone may be slightly more prone to violence than another due to a particular gene, or another may be more prone to pacifism due to another.

The problem is always that those who say "Nature Rules All" are overlooking the fact that, even among the less intelligent species, Nurture plays the biggest role in behavior.

I heartily concur.
I've known people who had horrible childhoods, and they rose above it and were okay.
I've also known people who were raised with every imaginable advantage, and they turned out rotten.
It is not so simple as 'Nurture vs Nature'.
Free will has to be folded into the equation.
Free will....sheer will....tenacity....determination, call it what you will.
Sheer will is something that we all have, to some degree, whether the circumstances of our lives have put it to the test, or not.

This is one of the things I enjoy seeing in this show.
Some of these characters have achieved some incredible things....by sheer will and tenacity.
Granted, they have a power to utilize in achieving their goal, but it is their will to use it and persevere in the face of formidable odds that ultimately leads them to a successful outcome.

Perhaps most important to the discussion is what the good Dr. said. Genetics plays an important role. Our environment, including not only the family that raised us but also the people around whom we were raised, play another important role.

It is our choices, however, that ultimately define us.

I believe Synch and Dr. Thomas Wonder are correct. I am a Psychology major here in Tennessee, and I have written a couple of papers on the subject. Despite my research, however, I could form only the simplest of conclusions: both your genetic makeup and your home environment (especially in the early years of development) inform your decision making processes, or FREE WILL.

The genetic makeup of some individuals can be more dominant, and compel them to act against their better judgement, despite their background; likewise an otherwise "normal" individual, without genetic predispositons to violence, alcoholism, drug abuse, etc., can become literally anything, due to the environment they were raised in.

In the end, we cannot ever truly know what drives an individual with any degree of CERTAINTY. After all, "a wise man recognizes how much he doesn't know."

The only thing is that Free Will is still the Trump Card, if you will.

I may have a genetic and/or environmental predisposition toward alcoholism. I still have to choose to take that first drink. Even after the addiction takes hold, assuming it does, I have the choice of seeking help for said addiction.

The only real problem I have with genetics in general, and the Human Genome Project in particular, is that so many people try to use their "genetic predisposition" as some sort of "get out of jail free" card. You have trials now where the murderer's defense is "I couldn't help it, I'm just wired that way." Luckily it didn't work, but you at least get my point. (I hope.)

Yes, I definitely get your point Synch, and I don't that genetic predispositions should be an admissable defense, because it sets a precedent that would have every criminal in the country claiming that they were not in control of their actions. As I said, genetic factors play a larger role in some people, but we as a society cannot allow that to be a permissable defense for the actions of an individual.

Also, just out of curiosity, why do you oppose the Human Genome Project? Don't mean to offend, I'm just curious.

Not offended- maybe I should have explained it better.

It's the law of unintended consequences in action.

What the HGP was intended to do was great. Some of the results are not so great. Mostly what I already alluded to, the "get out of jail free" card that's a direct result of the work being done there. (Not that it works... although I strongly believe it will in time.)

Also, in a society that has a proven desire to over-regulate everything... can it be more than a matter of time before only those who genetically "match," and don't carry the detrimental genes, are allowed to marry and/or breed?

Controlling breeding, excluding all but those who are "genetically matched" amounts to fascism. Although, I do agree that the HGP could do a lot of harm as well good.

I am ambivalent here; it could cause societal problems, as you pointed out, but also a cure to many forms of genetic conditions.

Precisely. It's a Pandora's Box, and I can't help wondering if we really should have opened it. After all, just because we can do something doesn't mean we really should.

Unfortunately that's not only a debate for another place and time, but completely irrelevant since it's already been done.

I agree that a lot of good can come from this. It's just that mankind has perpetually shown itself incapable of routinely choosing the good over the bad.

I believe all of you have made excellent and thoughtful assesments here, thank you. I absolutely love that this show has the depth rarely seen on TV along with the flashy stuff to keep me on the edge of my seat.

Here are my comments on the addition of free will to the discussion. Consider this: A dog and a cat are hanging from opposite ends of a cliff, you have time to save one, which do you run and save? While the decision is yours to make, using your own free will, which animal you actually decide to save can have a myriad of different influences ranging from your upbringing to your allergies. While I'm not discounting free will in the least, because it is the definitive human trait, I will say that your choices, however independantly you make them, can be influenced by both your genetics and your upbringing.

You guys rock!