I have been reading this threat with great interest, and must say that - for me at least - the primal urge was definitively nature.

My youth was uneventful and my upbringing secure if not protective. Then in my early teens i saw a hint of a bdsm inspired picture, roughly at the same time as I managed to see a late night documentary on the LA piercing scene, and I was hooked. Without any previous exposure, everything just clicked. And the frantic search began...

Nurture has though played a big part in getting where I am. First as a dampening factor - my upbringing, social mores of my environment etc - later as an inspiring factor, when I started to explore my feelings more and more and learned about them.

Another argument for nature is how well my interest in bdsm fits in with general character (erm, nurture or nature?).

The guiding principals with regard to my bdsm interests are a need to experiment, a great (too great perhaps) curiosity and a desire to seek out my limits and push them. These apply equally well to being a sub as to being a Dom. (or to whether or not you get on that killer roller coaster).

As a sub, it is incredible to give up control (temporarily) and to see where your Domme will take you. As a Dom the idea of taking someone on that journey, and having complete control (to a degree) is very appealing.

The same goes for the physical aspect. My body seems to react positively to extreme stimulation... and has done so as long as I can remember (as a child, I once fell on a gravel path, getting those pesky stones wedged deep into my knee... the hour spend trying to get them out, tongue between lips in concentration, is one of my most vivid childhood memories - guess the curiosity also played a role there). But, knowing that, and therefore knowing how your sub is likely to respond, must make administering these extreme stimulations great fun and exciting.

So, for me nature all the way, with the caveat that nurture allows us to cultivate these feelings, and prior to that can help or inhibit the surfacing of those feelings and actions.

Cornelius.