This is a much debated topic, and I don't necessarily
think we still have a definite answer, except to say that scientific research has
identified that both factors are important; it is not just one nor the other that
dictates the intelligence of a given person. Of course, your question ties in to a much
larger debate in social sciences, the nature/nurture debate, which seeks to discover
which of the two factors you have mentioned in your question--our genes or our
environment and upbringing--has the biggest impact on us as a
person.
Clearly, with intelligence, there is a genetic
aspect to what we are capable of. Yet at the same time, studies have shown that if
children are malnourished or if their mothers are drug addicts or alcoholics whilst they
are a foetus, this can greatly impact their intelligence. Thus I think you need to
accept that the answer to this question is something like both/and rather than
either/or. Our level of intelligence is a result of our genes and of our
environment.
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