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Free will means that one has control of themselves and their own destiny; determinism would argue that everything that happens is dictated by what happened in the past, and that one does not have the freedom to choose and control their fate due to other controlling factors. I believe that determinism is the deciding factor in fate and destiny. An individual may be able to son trol their destiny to some extent by consciously working toward a specific life goal or desired result, however it is impossible for someone to control every antagonistic factor around them. As sometime or another, everything will be altered by a disruptive uncontrollable force.
However, one could also argue that those disruptive forces are not antagonists but are actually a major part of our destiny, and that they are redirecting and guiding us toward our predestined life events and ends. Hence, because of the many uncontrollable factors in life, free will is ultimately useless. As for the idea of everything being dictated by what happened in the past, this is questionable. It has been said that everything and individual does, whether it is good or bad, will eventually be returned to them. There is no proof of this actually occurring; it is merely an assumption made based on something that may be nothing more than pure confidence. In the Nature v.
Nurture issue, the nature side states that character and intelligence are largely inherited and that certain ideas are inborn, whereas the nurture side of the debate argues that our human traits develop through experience. In my opinion, both nature and nurture contribute to our overall personality and intelligence. It is true that certain traits are inherited from out parents; this has been proven in the twin and adoption studies. An adopted child, even after never meeting their biological parents, will eventually manifest certain traits of their natural parents. Likewise, twins that have been separated at birth who are reunited in adulthood will often have many astonishing similarities. However, while some of our personality traits and intelligence are inherited from our parents, the nurture we experience from conception and our personal life experiences play key roles in what make our individual personalities.
Experience is perhaps the greatest teacher, and it can completely make or change a person. For example, even though a person may have had parents who were extremely religious, this does not mean they will have the same appreciation for the religion they are exposed to. Our personalities and intelligence greatly depend on both Nature and Nurture, uniting each side of the long-standing debate in scientific fact and logic. Another issue in personality is whether our personalities are completely developed in early childhood or if they are independent of the past and capable of being influenced by events in the present and future. To say that our personalities are completely developed in our early childhood is, in my opinion, misleading. Upon hearing this theory, many will assume that our entire personality and traits are developed during childhood and that they cannot be changed.
If this is true, there is no experience or event that can change our personalities; in saying this, one is proclaiming the falsity that our characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting is unchangeable, regardless of situation and interference. If someone has been shy and passive all of their lives, it does not mean that they are incapable of learning to be outgoing and will never possess leadership qualities. It simply means that the person may need to be exposed to a particular experience or environment in order for those latent qualities to become manifest. For example, someone who has been quiet and reserved in grade school and as a pre-teen may suddenly become loud and outgoing in their high school and college years. This shows that personality can be changed due to situation. However, in contrast to my opinion, other may say that this individual may have possessed the trait of being outgoing since early childhood but that it simply did not become manifest until they were much older.
It is possible that certain traits of an individual's personality may remain latent, however it may still require a certain event or situation in order for it to become manifest. Many have wondered whether we are primarily tension-reducing, pleasure-seeking animals, or if we are motivated primarily by the need to grow and reach our full potential. I think that motivation depends on personality, therefore each person's motivation is unique. Naturally, every person longs to live a pleasurable life. This being the unfortunate plight of our human nature, it often becomes many people's main concern, causing them to lose interest in anything else. However, there are also a great number of people who put self-growth and needs above pleasure.
Putting pleasure first and placing one's care in reaching full potential are two very diferent perceptions. This shows that personality varies from person to person. No one is completely free of selfishness and greed; even the most humble personalities long for pleasure and indulgences. Even the most selfish acknowledge their needs and shortcomings. Since it is our human nature to seek comfort and satisfaction, most people are a combination of the two personalities.
It is rare to find someone who is completely one way or the other; the important thing is to ensure an equal balance between the concern for pleasure and the need for self-fulfillment. With this balance, the two sides should feed off of one another. If we are motivated by the need to grow and reach our full potential, achieving those things will bring us pleasure. Likewise, if we lead tension-reducing, pleasure able lives, having everything we want, we will believe we have reached our full potential. In this way, most people seek both pleasure and growth. Finally, there is the issue of optimism or pessimism; this is a debate of whether humans are good, kind, and compassionate or if we are evil, cruel, and merciless.
If is illogical to say that humans are completely good or completely evil. Each and every one of us has the potential to spread happiness or inflict pain to others. There is no human being who hasn't committed a cruel or merciless act, just as there is no one who is perfectly good and cheerful. I believe that no one is capable of achieving complete goodness; just as one is capable of living to inflict pain and cruelty, but they will never achieve complete evilness. No matter how cruel a person is, there will still be a shred of guilt and conviction in them.
It depends on a person's personality as to how much of them is good or bad, but there will always be a combination of the two. "Goodness" cannot exist without "evil" and "evil" cannot exist without "goodness", therefore a person must have evil to possess goodness and must have goodness to possess evil.
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Research essay sample on Good Or Bad Nature And Nurture
