Three Identical Strangers - not really... | National Humanities Center

Humanities Moments

Three Identical Strangers – not really…

July 17, 2020

Connie (Sales Analyst)

Nature Versus Nurture; Family; Documentary Films;

I had heard about this documentary, Three Identical Strangers, from a co-worker – she said I absolutely had to see it! I am fascinated by the nature vs. nurture discussion and I could not wait to see how this was represented in the film. At the beginning of the story, I was 100% on board the “nature” wagon. Genetics had to be the reason we are who we are. The documentary played right into that thinking, citing the similarity of the likes, preferences, physical gestures, etc. of the triplets. But as the movie went much deeper into their lives, all of the superficial “sameness” lost its value, and the “nurture” argument began to gain strength.

This movie flipped my thinking completely, proving how much impact one’s environment has on one’s mentality. These were no longer identical strangers, but rather three very different people, clearly molded and influenced by their loved ones and surroundings in their formative years. I shocked myself with my change of mindset and began to think more critically about how our own “hard-witring” could be undone – to either our success or our detriment.


Subjects

Film and Media / Psychology / Nature Versus Nurture / Family / Documentary Films /

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