Hope it Fits: Preserving Nature in the Architecture of Nurture

Don't try to become what you don't want to be whether it's the trend around triggering you, or whether someone wants you to fit in a template. Preserve originality. Grow organically. But don't shut your doors to inspiration and improvement either.

Think of this: If I may wish for the reality to be different than what it is, I might as well teach a cat to bark.

And I can try, and try, and try, and try, and cry, and try and try.. and at the end of the day, or a month, or a year, the cat will look up at me, and say..

..'meow'.

And just as I was jotting down these contemplative thoughts, simultaneously being reflective upon most choices in my own personal life which although put me in a very position of comfort and validation, has nevertheless also left much dissonance and disappointment in inability to acquaint myself to my natural leanings and abilities.

Anyway, so here is also another thought that recalls this particular human experiment from psychology that could, to some extent, fit this discussion.

While there are many more aspects of the experiment that can be discussed in a great detail, one pertinent one is about the feasibility of going contrary to nature. While what nature is, is itself questworthy, this experiment very patently had attempted to manipulate nature through the nurture architecture.

Called 'The Kellogg’s Study: The Ape and the Child', here a human baby was raised alongside a chimpanzee and "became more ape than human" before tragically killing himself later in life. Animal psychologists Winthrop Niles Kellogg and his wife Luella carried out this bizarre experiment in the 1930s as they raised a chimp named Gua and their son Donald as "brother and sister".

However, the couple got more than they bargained for when it was actually their son Donald who ended up becoming more ape than man.

The experiment had to be cancelled as reportedly the tot started to make noises like a chimp and began to become more aggressive, even biting people.

He grunted and barked like his "sister" when he wanted more food and would mimic her behaviours.

Donald also began to move on all fours like the chimp - and the two would even wrestle like two wild animals. Seeing what was happening to their son, the Kelloggs terminated the experiment - and Gua was sent away, dying of pneumonia just a year later aged 3.

And while not much more is known about Donald, he later killed himself aged just 43 in 1973.

While we consciously think our various 'nurture' anchors shape, pull and strech the essence of our being, we often overlook the strongest force of nature that we are born with. Something that's unique to each one of us.

Some forcefit attempts may end up in vain. With wasted efforts. Some may end up in destruction beyond comprehension. We need to be rational with our choices, with our stretch and with our judgments upon ourselves.

Hope it fits!?