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The combination of physical, social, and cultural conditions that influence an individual's development and behavior.

The relative importance of heredity and environment in shaping human lives—nature versus nurture— has long been a topic of debate taken up by thinkers as diverse as John Locke, Charles Darwin, and Sigmund Freud, and forms part of current policy debates in areas

such as crime and education. Traditionally, this controversy pits those who believe that human nature and intelligence are biologically determined...