Another way to measure is to monitor a babies activity in the womb. But even these results can't give solid evidence to either argument: Is the impact of a smoking mother on her baby environmental, or does her smoking have a genetic effect? Measuring the brains and genes of children who have died from non accidental deaths could be useful, but is seldom done because of the emotional trauma of the parents. And lastly, there are always exceptions to the rule which complicate the issue. .
There are then three possibilities as to how a personality is acquired: It is inherent, it is biological, or it is moulded by environmental influences. .
The theories on inherence were commonly held beliefs before the discovery of genes, and most have been discounted. The Greeks believed that we are born with humours which determine personality. The philosopher, Descartes, believed we are born with a predetermined life and persona, and Christians consider the soul to be the source of personality. Another view was that energy moves through the body at different speeds, which creates forces inside conflicting with each other. These energy funnels allegedly influence the way the brain makes its connections and that is what determines who you are. .
None of these have scientific backing, are purely theoretical and can be discredited by several case studies. Amongst these are the cases of the Wolf children. In 1957 an Indian child, Pabsuram, was found running along with a pack of wolves by a hunter. He had developed the characteristics of a wolf, unable to stand erect and unable to speak, he emitted wolf like cries. In another case, two Bengali girls raised by a wolf could smell meat from 70 yards, lapped from a pan and growled when anyone came near them. Kamala learned a few words by the time she was seventeen, and was tamed, much like a dog. Now if we are born with a predetermined personality it would manifest itself but the wolf children acted like wolves and none of these children ever took on the qualities of a person.
