Hmmmm. I mean, I think we are born with unchangeable personalities, but the person we become is shaped by our surroundings and upbringing. My friend Christine is a sociology major and she explained a theory to me that human reactions and views can be broken down entirely base upon factors such as the location of one's upbringing, parentage, race, ethnicity, religion, social class etc etc etc can inform almost every aspect of a person's views and outlook and...everything. That theory kind of scares the crap out of me because I like free will, but it's something to think about.
sometimes when i hear one of those inspirational maxims of wisdom on how to live or view life, i have to remind myself that one way of living doesn't work for everyoneI hate these. Sometimes I'll be upset and people will be like YOU JUST CAN'T LET THE LITTLE THINGS GET YOU DOWN; LIFE'S TOO SHORT. And it kind of pisses me off because it's both shaming and invalidating people's emotions. Like, well I wish I could feel that way, but right now I don't. Sorry if that
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Mmhmm, I know what you mean. I remember when I was doing some research for a philosophy class in the eleventh grade, and I read something that went along the lines of - if we believe in evolutionary theory, then we have to accept that free will doesn't exist and that all our actions and characteristics are influenced either by heredity or our environment. Which tripped me up too, no lie.
I guess I bring this up because in every day life you hear a lot of stuff, you know, as in the maxims I kind of found myself talking about in the post (the tangents, I'm connecting them). That is either about accepting who we are and being true to ourselves - you know, 'be yourself!' and all that, and how we criticize people all the time for being 'fake' because they don't act in a way we're accustomed to, or that we can predict - or about being in control of who we are, that we are the only people who can create change in our lives, that you can be whoever or whatever you want because you are the master of your own destiny - you are what you think
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Even if it's all true and we really have no choice in who we are, I choose to live as though I do. Like maybe I have no control over anything, but I won't let that stop me from trying to make something of it all, you know?
'be yourself' vs. 'be who you want to be' because to me they seem like contradictory statements that we unfortunately hear all the time. And I'm sure if I think hard about it enough, I can rationalize it so that the both can perfectly co-exist, but do you see what I mean? I see it as like, "be the best version of yourself you can be." The "be who you want to be option" requires well....fakeness. Working with what you have, even if you can't technically control what you have, is that best course of action, I think.
personally I get all 'YOU DON'T KNOW MEEEE' Me too. I get very BITCH PLZ YOU DON'T KNOW MY LIFE
I'm a sociologist, and that has definitely changed the way I think about "free will", as well as the whole nature-nurture debate.
I think the view that "free will" means that all your actions are completely undetermined and therefore unexplainable by things like your upbringing is naive. That's not free will, that's just randomness. In my understanding, free will does imply that I am able to make reasoned, meaningful decisions. And in turn, that means that, if somebody knows my reasons, they will have a good shot at predicting my actions because my actions are purpuseful. Very, very simply put, if I stand in front of a cliff, it's easy to predict that I won't jump down, because I have good reasons not to. That doesn't mean it wasn't my free decision not to jump. And of course factors such as class, region, ethnicity, etc. have a huge influence on our lives and therefore on our motives. Social scientists will be able to predict a lot of your opinions, beliefs, and actions from those facts, but for me, that's not an argument against
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I've no idea about sociology, so I can't comment on the first part of your post. All I know is that people change, personalities aren't set in stone and if I think too much about the basis of why I am who I am, I'd go crazy. As for the 'life be in it' maxims ... hmm, can't say I agree with many of them, particularly carpe diemAs for criminology, well ... that's not part of my degree, but I did study criminal responsibility this year, and my understanding of the insanity plea (in Queensland, that is), is that it's not a 'get out of jail free' card. It's a qualified acquittal, so even if you successfully raise the defence, you don't escape punishment ... you still have to go to 'do the time' in a mental facility (which is a whole new legal argument). I believe the rationale is that an insane person doesn't escape punishment, but is put in a different 'stream' (if you will) to ensure their safety and the people around them. I think there's also a focus on rehabilitation, so they're put in a place where they can 'get better' with the
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(Delayed response - *groan* I've been really slack with replying lately.)
How did you go with writing the essay? I remember we heard about some Canadian Supreme Court decisions, but I was weeks behind in the unit so I didn't pay too much attention to anything that wasn't assessable.
It has been forever, really. I can't believe you've finished high school now, I feel so old!! *laughs* I even do the embarrassing 'I'm so old, you're so young!' comments - a sure sign I'm about ready for a wheelchair and D ward. :D
I'm OK, I've just finished uni for the year and looking forward to summer - I'm taking the first semester of next year off to travel around Europe with my boyfriend, so our lounge room has completely been taken over with tour guides, maps, etc. It's all so daunting but I'm so excited (already! And we won't be leaving until May-ish!).
How are you? I read the article in your latest post ... how are you coping with uni and everything that goes along with it?
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sometimes when i hear one of those inspirational maxims of wisdom on how to live or view life, i have to remind myself that one way of living doesn't work for everyoneI hate these. Sometimes I'll be upset and people will be like YOU JUST CAN'T LET THE LITTLE THINGS GET YOU DOWN; LIFE'S TOO SHORT. And it kind of pisses me off because it's both shaming and invalidating people's emotions. Like, well I wish I could feel that way, but right now I don't. Sorry if that ( ... )
Reply
I guess I bring this up because in every day life you hear a lot of stuff, you know, as in the maxims I kind of found myself talking about in the post (the tangents, I'm connecting them). That is either about accepting who we are and being true to ourselves - you know, 'be yourself!' and all that, and how we criticize people all the time for being 'fake' because they don't act in a way we're accustomed to, or that we can predict - or about being in control of who we are, that we are the only people who can create change in our lives, that you can be whoever or whatever you want because you are the master of your own destiny - you are what you think ( ... )
Reply
'be yourself' vs. 'be who you want to be' because to me they seem like contradictory statements that we unfortunately hear all the time. And I'm sure if I think hard about it enough, I can rationalize it so that the both can perfectly co-exist, but do you see what I mean?
I see it as like, "be the best version of yourself you can be." The "be who you want to be option" requires well....fakeness. Working with what you have, even if you can't technically control what you have, is that best course of action, I think.
personally I get all 'YOU DON'T KNOW MEEEE'
Me too. I get very BITCH PLZ YOU DON'T KNOW MY LIFE
Reply
I think the view that "free will" means that all your actions are completely undetermined and therefore unexplainable by things like your upbringing is naive. That's not free will, that's just randomness. In my understanding, free will does imply that I am able to make reasoned, meaningful decisions. And in turn, that means that, if somebody knows my reasons, they will have a good shot at predicting my actions because my actions are purpuseful. Very, very simply put, if I stand in front of a cliff, it's easy to predict that I won't jump down, because I have good reasons not to. That doesn't mean it wasn't my free decision not to jump. And of course factors such as class, region, ethnicity, etc. have a huge influence on our lives and therefore on our motives. Social scientists will be able to predict a lot of your opinions, beliefs, and actions from those facts, but for me, that's not an argument against ( ... )
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also: long time no talk! How have you been?
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How did you go with writing the essay? I remember we heard about some Canadian Supreme Court decisions, but I was weeks behind in the unit so I didn't pay too much attention to anything that wasn't assessable.
It has been forever, really. I can't believe you've finished high school now, I feel so old!! *laughs* I even do the embarrassing 'I'm so old, you're so young!' comments - a sure sign I'm about ready for a wheelchair and D ward. :D
I'm OK, I've just finished uni for the year and looking forward to summer - I'm taking the first semester of next year off to travel around Europe with my boyfriend, so our lounge room has completely been taken over with tour guides, maps, etc. It's all so daunting but I'm so excited (already! And we won't be leaving until May-ish!).
How are you? I read the article in your latest post ... how are you coping with uni and everything that goes along with it?
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