Nature verses Nurture

I often discuss with my clients the wonders of television. The millions of electrons continuously igniting minute gas containing cells that light up in unison to create an impression of a moving image upon a flat screen. These images have been sent as electronic pulses along fibre-optic cables or as radio waves bounced from satellites orbiting in space. The electronic pulses originate from digital cameras that record movement and sound, which are then manipulated using computer software to produce packages of information that we can absorb and comprehend. Yet, all this technical wizardry does not explain the plot of Coronation Street.

This nature verses nurture debate around neuroscience seems to miss the point. Neuroscience is exploring the most complicated object on this planet, the human brain. Electromagnetic scanning allows us to see where thoughts and emotions emerge, sensors can trace electrical impulses as thoughts travel through the body and identify chemical changes in the brains reaction to outside stimulus. Love is just an electrical, chemical interface. Yet, is that all love is? Is any emotion or thought more than this?

It is the unbelievably complicated interaction of the mind, physical body and experience that make up who we are. We are more than the sum of our parts. Coronation Street could not exist without the wonders of science, but without the human creativity of the writes, directors and actors, television would be no more than a security camera projection into an empty room.