I was having a discussion with a friend of mine about why people are different today. We were getting into how short-term events (like a parent dying) or long-term factors (like type of friends, how the child is raised) influence someone's personality. It's been pretty established that personality isn't genetic (adopted kids, divorced kids raised by one parent usually have no sign of their non-contact parent(s)) so that means every element of a personality is determined by things that are brought into contact with the individual, that people are absolute blank slates before they embrace society.
Think about it: we are taught to hate. The word Nazi doesn't naturally invoke an antagonistic response, but after being taught about what it means, people learn to meet it with disdain. We are taught societal norms. When you see something that's strange, you see it as different from normal, not inherently wrong. The "seeing it as inherently wrong" part comes from being taught that the rest of society sees it as wrong, and in turn you meet it with a natural negative reaction. And, getting to my point, events that are usually out of our control have a huge impact on our personality today. We can't control who raises us, nor the inner motives of the friends around us, nor where we were raised, nor how we were raised. Our values and beliefs are largely instilled by those who we grew up around. Kids are usually the same political alignment as their parents, usually follow the same religion, and usually have a similar outlook on life. This doesn't mean that all people are the same at birth (pretty clear that intelligence varies, among other things), but it does mean that people are born with tendencies, but never absolute paths. A smart child in one family might pursue a career in astrophysics, while a child that's just as smart in the same family might decide to become a camp counselor because of differences in how the two are raised.
Anyway, this brings me to my current question. If so much about a person is determined through childhood events, and how they're raised, can we isolate a childhood to create a predetermined personality? Given that people are blank when they're introduced into the world, is it possible to create a certain type of personality by leading a character through life with absolute control? I know this sounds inhumane (it is), but I'm not debating that right now. If it's even possible, because motives spring from past experiences and personality, then theoretically we could create the best *fill-in-the-blank* for humanity based on a set of ideals that we could narrow down into childhood events and experiences. I figure that everything down the the color of someone's house they were raised in (given the psychological factors of color) influences personality.
So what are your views on this? Could it be done? If it was possible, what would be the extent to which this knowledge could (or should) be used?
tl;dr People's personalities are influenced almost exclusively by their childhood. A lot of things in anyone's childhood are not under their control. These things could theoretically be controlled and used to create an ideal personality in someone. Thoughts?
Think about it: we are taught to hate. The word Nazi doesn't naturally invoke an antagonistic response, but after being taught about what it means, people learn to meet it with disdain. We are taught societal norms. When you see something that's strange, you see it as different from normal, not inherently wrong. The "seeing it as inherently wrong" part comes from being taught that the rest of society sees it as wrong, and in turn you meet it with a natural negative reaction. And, getting to my point, events that are usually out of our control have a huge impact on our personality today. We can't control who raises us, nor the inner motives of the friends around us, nor where we were raised, nor how we were raised. Our values and beliefs are largely instilled by those who we grew up around. Kids are usually the same political alignment as their parents, usually follow the same religion, and usually have a similar outlook on life. This doesn't mean that all people are the same at birth (pretty clear that intelligence varies, among other things), but it does mean that people are born with tendencies, but never absolute paths. A smart child in one family might pursue a career in astrophysics, while a child that's just as smart in the same family might decide to become a camp counselor because of differences in how the two are raised.
Anyway, this brings me to my current question. If so much about a person is determined through childhood events, and how they're raised, can we isolate a childhood to create a predetermined personality? Given that people are blank when they're introduced into the world, is it possible to create a certain type of personality by leading a character through life with absolute control? I know this sounds inhumane (it is), but I'm not debating that right now. If it's even possible, because motives spring from past experiences and personality, then theoretically we could create the best *fill-in-the-blank* for humanity based on a set of ideals that we could narrow down into childhood events and experiences. I figure that everything down the the color of someone's house they were raised in (given the psychological factors of color) influences personality.
So what are your views on this? Could it be done? If it was possible, what would be the extent to which this knowledge could (or should) be used?
tl;dr People's personalities are influenced almost exclusively by their childhood. A lot of things in anyone's childhood are not under their control. These things could theoretically be controlled and used to create an ideal personality in someone. Thoughts?
