What determines a person's character? Is it determined from birth, or the way one was brought up? This is another nature vs nurture question. Is it true that if the kid is naturally good, he / she can more or less be left alone and not much damage would be done, whereas if the kid has a wild streak, more time has to be taken to bring him / her up well? How did some people become so righteous whereas others think nothing of committing crimes?
When a child or person turns bad, whose fault is it? Is it because the child is already a difficult one, or is it because the parents neglect him / her, or the environment he / she is in that causes him / her to become like this? People say that if kids grow up in a messy background, he / she will end up being a messy person. Yet there are others who come from equally messy backgrounds and remain rooted. So what determines how a person will turn out?
Even for those who belong to the same family, with the same parents, brought up the same way, why are they so different? Perhaps the parents spent more time on one than the others, but still, if they are from the same parents, their values would be similar. Yet why then are the siblings so different? Is it the parents' fault, or is it because the children are different, so no matter how they are brought up, the natural character always shows?
Is character also determined by the type of background? For instance, if someone was born with a silver spoon, and the parents themselves were wealthy for the past few generations, chances are they would be priviledged and take things for granted. Because things have always been easy for whatever they want, they may not be able to understand why it is a struggle for some people. For instance, some people can breeze through their studies so easily and good in everything. They will never be able to understand that there are others who find it a struggle to study and score well, and not able to achieve in things.
There can be others who are rich in material comfort, love and have everyone at their beck and call. Perhaps they may not be able to understand why the world can be so cruel and people can suffer. All it takes is one incident and they may go bankrupt, or have a heart break, or someone refusing to do their bidding, and they will then wonder why that is happening to them and not knowing how to handle.
But the world is like that. Not everyone is rich, not everyone is priviledged, not everyone can experience love, and not everyone is smart. But is it anyone's fault that a person grows up thinking the world of himself and thinking the whole world and everything will go right for him? Is this due to the natural character, or the way he was brought up, or the environment he grew up in?
When a child or person turns bad, whose fault is it? Is it because the child is already a difficult one, or is it because the parents neglect him / her, or the environment he / she is in that causes him / her to become like this? People say that if kids grow up in a messy background, he / she will end up being a messy person. Yet there are others who come from equally messy backgrounds and remain rooted. So what determines how a person will turn out?
Even for those who belong to the same family, with the same parents, brought up the same way, why are they so different? Perhaps the parents spent more time on one than the others, but still, if they are from the same parents, their values would be similar. Yet why then are the siblings so different? Is it the parents' fault, or is it because the children are different, so no matter how they are brought up, the natural character always shows?
Is character also determined by the type of background? For instance, if someone was born with a silver spoon, and the parents themselves were wealthy for the past few generations, chances are they would be priviledged and take things for granted. Because things have always been easy for whatever they want, they may not be able to understand why it is a struggle for some people. For instance, some people can breeze through their studies so easily and good in everything. They will never be able to understand that there are others who find it a struggle to study and score well, and not able to achieve in things.
There can be others who are rich in material comfort, love and have everyone at their beck and call. Perhaps they may not be able to understand why the world can be so cruel and people can suffer. All it takes is one incident and they may go bankrupt, or have a heart break, or someone refusing to do their bidding, and they will then wonder why that is happening to them and not knowing how to handle.
But the world is like that. Not everyone is rich, not everyone is priviledged, not everyone can experience love, and not everyone is smart. But is it anyone's fault that a person grows up thinking the world of himself and thinking the whole world and everything will go right for him? Is this due to the natural character, or the way he was brought up, or the environment he grew up in?
1 comments:
Depends who you ask.
When I was younger, I believed that your character was primarily determined by you and your choices.
I am no longer so sure. Recently (well, the past few years), I am wondering if people are nothing more than simple programmed autmotons with only the illusion of free will.
Soem will argue that it is a combination of nature and nurture. Nurture is able to turn on or off certain nature characteristics. For example, laboratory mice, taken from the same litter, are fairly genertically uniform. If the baby mice are deprived of licking, they become more anxious as they mature. If they get a lot of licking, they are calmer. Very similar genetics, different nurture. The nature has a built in tendency to anxiety, but nurture can turn that off.
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