QUESTION: HOW WOULD YOU EXPLAIN THE BIOLOGICAL BASES OF HUMAN BEHAVIOUR? JUSTIFY YOUR RESPONSE PLEASE.
INTRODUCTION
There are about an hundred billion neurons in the brain of a newly born child, each one forming an average of about a thousand synapses. Majority of these neurons are lost over time and the properties of the remaining neurons and their connections reflect a combination of both the genetics and the experiences of the individual from the time of conception and this information is translated into action via the motor neurons, joined to the muscles and the glands of the body, using a mechanism of both electrical and chemical transmission. The physical structure of the body plays an important role in the behavior of an individual. The most important physical structure here is the nervous system. The nervous system carries orders from the brain and spinal cord to various glands and muscles, it also carries signals from stimuli receptors to the spinal cord and brain. .
Therefore, Mankind is a product of million of years of evolution, our physical makeup changing to make us fitter to survive and reproduce. it is however believed, at least in scientific circles, that living systems, including mankind, obey the natural physical laws. However, it is also commonly accepted that man has the capacity to make “free” conscious decisions that do not simply reflect the chemical makeup of the individual at the time of decision—this chemical makeup reflecting both the genetic and environmental history and a degree of stochasticism.
The combination of biology and society is what makes us what we are and do what we do. Biology guides us to stimuli (ancestral survival due to responses over time) while social structures dictate restrictions on and alterations in how we carry out our biological responses. Neither biology nor society stands without the other. Many discussions about human behaviour centre around the relative importance of genes and environment, a...