More about ourselves

What is it that makes us who we are and act the way we do?  Is it the particulars of our physical nature - our genetics and brain structure?  Is it our environment?  Nature and nurture are two aspects of a tired, old line of human inquiry.  Saint Paul famously writes of another dimension to the problem:

"For that which I do I allow [know] not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I." (Romans 7:15)

Paul of Tarsus by Rembrandt (1606 - 1669) from Wikimedia Commons

Can we, in our present condition, overcome this?  Does this mean we should stop trying?  Consider what this means as science discovers more and more about the deep contradictions of our human nature.  It is part of who we are to continue to try to control this dilemma, to control both nature and nurture.  Will it one day succeed or is there something more fundamental at work - the fallen nature of humanity itself?