Psychology’s Nature vs. Nurture debate

Song Sociology – Beneath The Lyrics

Let it go – Luba Kowalchyk
Secrets and Sins – 1984

Lyrics:

Too many doubts
Too much fear
Too much danger
When society constructs our human nature
Live by the rules
Live by the laws
Live by commandments
Notions preconceived can lead to utter madness
Let it go
Let it go
Let it free your body
Let it move your soul
Let it go, oh no
We are made, we are not born
Let it go
Let it free your body
Let it move your soul
Let it go, oh no
We are made, we are not born
Learn to convert
Learn to assert
Learn to abandon
Ideologies and disciplines at random
Lay down my laws
Lay down the rules
Lay down commandments
Lift the sanctions
That restrict this woman's madness (repeat chorus)
Uniformity
Conventionality
Is the bane of our existence
Keep it safely at a distance
Nonconformity
Unconventionality
Is too good to be
Let your hair down
Can't you see
Let it go
Let it go
Let it free your body
Let it move your soul
Let it go, oh no
We are made, we are not born
Let it go
Let it free your body
Let it move your soul
Let it go, oh no
A woman is made, she is not born
Let it go
Let it free your head
Uncivilize your soul
Oh, oh
Let it go
Let it free your head
Uncivilize your soul
Let it go
Oh, let it go
Let it free your head
Uncivilize your soul


Cresting in the 1980’s, this song conveys one extreme of the pendulum swing in Psychology’s Nature vs. Nurture debate.

Simply put, the debate argues to what degree a person’s psychological traits or personality is determined by their genetics (nature) or their socialization, upbringing (nurture). Although it is accepted that the truth is a combination of these factors create our traits, abilities, and potential. However, at times, both nature and nurture have overshadowed the other in the degree to which we believed in their influence.

One extreme in the debate is genetic determinism. That everything we are comes directly from our genes. From the beginnings of psychology the idea of genetic determinism has been used as an excuse for oppression and tyranny against various groups based on complete fabrications, internalized biases, and just plain bad science. The lie of white racial superiority and racial, ethnic and sex differences assumed and created were used to justify oppression and even violence throughout recent history, from European imperialism, to slavery. The most infamous use of this bad science as propaganda was by the Nazi’s to justify their crimes against humanity during WWII. The horrors of the holocaust began a backlash against genetic determinism that continued most notably with the fight for equality by minorities and women in the 1960’s and 70’s.
The idea of discussing a person’s potential or character traits based on their genetics became very controversial as the biased science of genetic determinism was brought to light.
American IQ tests are a notable example. The revision to Alfred Binet’s benign Simon-Binet intelligence test, is known as the Stanford-Binet, and was put forth as a tool to judge fixed intelligence levels, something Alfred Binet clearly dismissed in his original work. None the less, Lewis M. Terman, who created the Stanford-Binet, and others used new tests to judge racial differences in intelligence based on tests tailor-made for educated, English speakers. When administered to immigrants with varying level of English comprehension and minorities long denied adequate education, much was made of the unsurprising results. As for sex difference, the story is quite illuminating as to the credibility of the testing, and the impartiality of the creators. In the 30’s and 40’s, frustrated at the consistently superior results of girls over boys, these ‘impartial’ scientists realized that they must alter the test content until the appropriate and reverse result was achieved. The debate raged on into the 70’s and mainstream opinion turned against the science of sex and race. So, for a time, discussion of genetics, even of interplay of genetics and socialization, was effectively silenced. Whatever objective science had been done was largely discredited by the overwhelming damage that genetic determinism caused to minority ethnic groups and women.
As well, the rise in popularity of all types of talk-based psychotherapy and group therapy turned our focus to our personal histories, and furthered the belief that our upbringing was the cause of our personal problems and character traits, thus creating our potential. There was great hope that people could change for the better just as society was changing at this time. The purpose of most talk therapy is to work through our past issues by acknowledging their causes, which were most often thought to be childhood traumas. The success of this therapy rests on the belief that our upbringing or how we were socialized (nurture) can be overcome. So a belief in genetics (nature), as it was generally understood at the time, would not be good for business and was contrary to our notions of positive change. People simply didn’t want to hear that aspects of our character may have been contributed by our genes before birth, as this was interpreted to mean that these traits were essentially immutable. In the 1980’s talk therapy became Talk shows, taking this belief and business to another level in our consciousness. By the early 1980’s, we could watch a stranger share their personal demons, and seemingly make progress in overcoming them, from the comfort of our homes on the numerous talk shows of the time. Theories of genetics were seldom heard in the mainstream media, and generally only as cautionary tales of oppression. The pendulum had reached its apex in the 80’s, and the general belief was that nurture ruled over nature in creating our character and potential, and then, inevitably, the pendulum began its descent and the return of genetics as a major field of study and a viable field of research began. Some groundbreaking and valuable research has been done, although the bad science of genetic determinism’s past always reappears, as do our biases and stereotypes. Hopefully we can retain a healthy skepticism as that pendulum continues its swing to the other extreme.

Luba sings, “We are made, we are not born.” Obviously supporting the prevailing belief of the 1980’s favouring nurture over nature. She goes on to say, “When society constructs our human nature.” That we should and can, “Let it go.” This song speaks directly to women. She says that laws, rules, and commandments are, “Notions preconceived,” which, “can lead to utter madness”, so we must lay them down to be free of what, “… restrict this woman's madness.” Luba’s refrain to, “let it go,” this time is because, “a woman is made, she is not born.” She is clearly arguing that our potential as women is shaped and stunted by the laws and rules of society and religion, and not by any genetic legacy. So, if we can only let go of the teachings ingrained in us, then who knows what woman could achieve. This was a common Feminist belief at that time and even with the new research into the genetics of sex, and gender roles, “Let it go.” remains good advice regardless of where that pendulum is heading.

This is a great song, and one thing I love about it is how she puts such a weighty topic into a 4-4 beat dance song. It was on the pop charts in Canada for 40 weeks and reached the number 1 position on a number of them.

Also, interesting is Luba criticism of “uniformity and conventiality”, which is justified especially in the context of the time, but hindsight being 20/20, or clearer at any rate, we can see how much her opinion is a product of its time. It is, I think, a reminder to us of how our points of view are limited by the parameters of our knowledge at any given period. Certainly we must move forward and express ourselves, but the ability to adapt our belief system or even, forgive me, to “let it go,” is essential.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK3L6ccMQ4U

the heart of anti-authoritarian 70’s culture...

Song Sociology – Beneath the Lyrics


Take the Money and Run – The Steve Miller Band
Album: Fly Like An Eagle (1976)

Lyrics:

This here's a story about Billy Joe and Bobbie Sue
Two young lovers with nothin' better to do
Than sit around the house, get high, and watch the tube
And here is what happened when they decided to cut loose
They headed down to, ooh, old El Paso
That's where they ran into a great big hassle
Billy Joe shot a man while robbing his castle
Bobbie Sue took the money and run
Go on take the money and run
Go on take the money and run
Go on take the money and run
Go on take the money and run
Billy Mack is a detective down in Texas
You know he knows just exactly what the facts is
He ain't gonna let those two escape justice
He makes his livin' off of the people's taxes
Bobbie Sue, whoa, whoa, she slipped away
Billy Joe caught up to her the very next day
They got the money, hey You know they got away
They headed down south and they're still running today
Singin' go on take the money and run
Go on take the money and run
Go on take the money and run
Go on take the money and run
Go on take the money and run

This is the heart of anti-authoritarian 70’s culture in the western world, found in mainstream pop music.

Youth culture has always been at odds with the established adult world, but this tension came to a head in the late 60’s. The tragic assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy hit the country like a blow. A large march protesting the Vietnam War during the ’68 Democratic Convention, in Chicago, was met with shocking violence. Hundreds of protesters and by-standers were beaten and injured by police. This one event has been singled out as the turning point in the once optimistic youth movement. As the 60’s ended and the new decade began, the Vietnam War dragged on, and many lost hope of ever creating real change in the society and turned away from politics. The final pullout of Vietnam in defeat was another blow to the population. Then, in 1974, the Watergate scandal and the subsequent resignation of President Nixon, affirmed many peoples’ worst fears, and the youth cultures long-held belief. The establishment could not be trusted, not the police, the government, the president, nor the rich, who supported and kept them in power.

So who were the heroes of the 1970’s ? From real life hi-jacker and folk hero, D.B.Cooper, in 1971, to the mafia family protagonists in the 1972 film, The Godfather, the decade was filled to the brim with criminal heroes. There were also movies like, Cool Hand Luke, Bonnie and Clyde, The Sting, and Serpico just to name a few. All the way through to the late 70’s lighter fare, Burt Reynolds’ character in the 1977 movie, Smokey and the Bandit, and the 1979 hit TV show, Dukes of Hazard, which was inspired by the 1975 movie, Moonrunners, the culture celebrated the outlaw. I can think of no pop-song that embodies this attitude more than Steve Miller’s fun and upbeat, Take the Money and Run.

Let’s break it down. We have a young couple that is unemployed and drug users. Okay, no big deal, but then they rob, and shoot a man in his home. We don’t know if he’s dead or just wounded, so the charges in this case could range from assault with a deadly weapon, attempted murder to manslaughter, and burglary. I think it’s likely you could add, speeding, and, if the DUI laws had existed at the time, driving under the influence of a controlled substance, but these aren’t specifically mentioned in the song.

So these are the heroes of the song. Miller has no sympathy for victim, “Billy Joe shot a man while robbing his castle,” because he is rich (castle) and therefore part of the establishment. He dismisses the detective’s effort to catch our heroes, and shows his contempt for the police in general with the comment, “He makes his livin’ off the peoples’ taxes.” As if pursuing dangerous criminals is a waste of tax payers’ money. Of course, these kids were just cutting loose remember? The song goes on to celebrate that, “They got the money, hey. You know they got away,” and “they’re still running today!” Great! Maybe they’ll rob and kill more people! Only wealthy people or police hopefully, as that leaves me out.

Now don’t get me wrong, I really like this song and anti-establishment sentiments in general. It’s just interesting to me that the extreme anti-authoritarian viewpoint was so common place and acceptable at the time that its release caused no controversy. This is a happy song, it is not at all dark considering its content, and our support for Billy Joe and Bobbi Sue is expected.
Songs celebrating outlaws and criminals can always be found music, musicians tend to identify with outsiders, but not in such a casual, upbeat and mainstream form. Not in a charted song that could be heard on any pop station at the time, and especially not in a song in which the criminals are successful. More common are pop hits like 1964’s, I Fought The Law, by the Bobby Fuller Four, in which it is clearly repeated that “the law won” or Jim Croce’s 1973 hit, Bad Bad Leroy Brown, who’s protagonist ends up on the wrong end of a knife.

Comments, corrections, and suggestions are welcome!

LLT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFGZufk4HFs