Question

[Not Anyone To Care For]

I have been going back and forth with this one thought and I would like to have some other people's perspectives.

Do you think you were born and destined to have the personality you have now? Or, do you think you have created yourself into the person you are now?

I am in between on this one, I feel as if I have created my own personality with a series of decisions. But what if I was already destined to make those decisions?

 

[smithcommajohn]

Essentially a freewill or determination argument.

I'm in the freewill camp, because if you think everything that is ever going to happen is going to happen regardless of your actions... why do anything?

I know in my adolescence I made choices that affected my personality to this day, so I believe I have created who I am, at least to some degree.

 

[Bad Itch]

If I was destined to become who/how I am today then we're in a lot of trouble.

I like to think who/how I am now is based on my reactions/response over time to the world around me. Probably a composite of equal parts, everything I've ever seen on TV and caffeine.

 

[Artsu Tharaz]

Destined to make decisions? lol

You project a timeline to the past which consists of those decisions that you believe that you made.

Your question sounds like it's asking whether we truly have souls or not, like reincarnation or something.

Obviously the person we are now is vastly different to the one we imagine existed in the past.

Free Will is not really up for debate at this point, as far as I am concerned, yes of course there is Free Will, it's just hard to really define something which by its very nature transcends the finite through a finite number of terms.

 

[Veravera]

Neither. One could argue that destiny is not the case, because we may be hardwired to do certain things (on average) but that doesn't mean we can't make a free choice or decisions that further shape us into who we are. Yet another can argue that those 'free' choices weren't free after all, they are the result of all possible variables that existed at the time any decision was made (genes, environment, mental state, level of self-awareness, circumstance, etc.... which were essentially "predetermined," i.e. they were the inputs and who I am is the output. "Destiny" doesn't tell the whole story but neither does "freewill". Who I am isn't really separate from everything else.

There was an article I read about this a while back and I remember thinking it all came down to semantics and that it's not an either-or matter. I might look for it and give it another read to see if I'd still feel the same.

 

[Not Anyone To Care For]

Destined to make decisions? lol

You project a timeline to the past which consists of those decisions that you believe that you made.

Your question sounds like it's asking whether we truly have souls or not, like reincarnation or something.

Obviously the person we are now is vastly different to the one we imagine existed in the past.

Free Will is not really up for debate at this point, as far as I am concerned, yes of course there is Free Will, it's just hard to really define something which by its very nature transcends the finite through a finite number of terms.

I guess a better way to put "destined to make decisions" is.

Will your brain always develop into the way it is now?
If that makes any sense whatsoever

 

[Not Anyone To Care For]

There was an article I read about this a while back and I remember thinking it all came down to semantics and that it's not an either-or matter. I might look for it and give it another read to see if I'd still feel the same.

If you ever find this article can you send me a link? Thanks

 

[Not Anyone To Care For]

Essentially a freewill or determination argument.

I'm in the freewill camp, because if you think everything that is ever going to happen is going to happen regardless of your actions... why do anything?

I know in my adolescence I made choices that affected my personality to this day, so I believe I have created who I am, at least to some degree.

That bit about the adolescence is very true

 

[Veravera]

If you ever find this article can you send me a link? Thanks

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/proceed-your-own-risk/201311/do-we-have-free-will

It's late, I kinda skimmed it, but one comment began with "has it occurred to you that our choices shape our brains instead of the other way around?" which got me thinking. Isn't it just a loop? Because don't choices originate from the brain?

There's also the notion of a deterministic universe. I'm reminded by the mind body debate as well.

 

[Artsu Tharaz]

I guess a better way to put "destined to make decisions" is.

Will your brain always develop into the way it is now?
If that makes any sense whatsoever

Nah, I'm having a hard time making sense of that question. :P

Both past and future are imagined states in the mind, they are being created and indicate the direction of your future movement.

They are a "Representation" and your decisions are made by your "Will".

 

[Ex-User (13503)]

I have been going back and forth with this one thought and I would like to have some other people's perspectives.

I view this as a false dichotomy rectified via reciprocal determinism. Things get a little more interesting where this in turn intersects solipsism (and/or a system of agents); causality x perspective; all the hippie notions of "we are one" become true and you realize that in some way, somehow, you're a living god and that experience and shared experience are meaningful. And then, for me at least, exploration of both agency and scale of effect intensified before things got boring again. It was fun in situ though, and I'd recommend the experience. Just don't get yourself in trouble.

 

[Ponderer]

I think our personality is shaped by the daily external experiences, which is early relationship with parents, peers, and possibly some of the traits are inherited. For example I almost never experienced extraverted communication style in my household so it was unlikely for me to become extravert because I didn't know much how that works. My relationship with parents was cold, so I grew up kind of unfeeling. I've also noticed that sometimes I behave just like my father and sometimes just like my mother. I don't know if that's because I inherited their traits or I'm just mimicking what I'd seen and thought it's an appropriate behaviour in a given situation. However, as older I get, I get more independent thoughts about life, so my behaviour is constantly slowly changing, and becoming different from my parents.
I'm more inclined to think that we are made by our experiences though.