Why We Are The Way We Are??

Why are we the way we are? What I mean is, why are we as a race the way we are. Why do some people cause wars, and why are some people advocates for peace? Is it the way we are brought up by our parents or is it our own morality that makes us think of our decisions? Why do some people who are brought up in bad homes become hardcore Buddhists? Why do people brought up in very good homes go towards a life of crime? Is it the media? I understand certain parts of why we are, the way we are, I just don’t understand how some people can be raise in such horrible conditions and come out morally right. While other people brought up in the greatest homes turn to crime (even though they have everything handed to them). Any ideas? Does it have to do with ones morality? Are certain people more prone to optimism then pessimism? Does it have to do with are genetics? What do you think ATS?

how long is a piece if string...?

while waxing philisophical may feel good, this kind of question is really pointless.

there is no one answer. only endless probabilities...

You come up with some really great questions. I think it's the effect of having something that will cause the opposite., bad homes may equal great person in some cases.

reply to post by okamitengu


Yeah while there are endless possibilities, then someone can hopefully answer some of the reasons. You didn't even answer my question so why bother posting this is useless. I am in a philosophy thread for a reason. There are tons of reasons why we do the things we do. I would like to see ATS's take on it. There are a lot of intelligent people on ATS, and have real good input on certain questions like this.

reply to post by Phlynx


Lol, I try my best . I understand what you are saying by bad homes equal greatness. Like "whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger". I just can’t help wonder of why some people though chose to do good things and people chose to do bad. Like the poster above said, there are endless possibilities, but what are those possibilities? Are we born into being an optimist or a pessimist? I have never seen a depressed baby, makes me think pessimism is something that grows on us. My personal opinion is a lot of it comes down to "hope" an believing in only good things. But I still don’t understand other things. I heard somewhere that serial killers are born with a over abundance of serotonin while developing in the womb, and that is why they are numb to emotion. If that is the case is it a natural thing to be evil?

reply to post by Maddogkull


A complex mix of interactions , genetic predispositions , early life events ,current relationships etc etc etc...... a symphony of choices - all with consequences .

More often than not ...... you just need to meet the parents of any individual and you have some idea of their character .



"For the house of the planter is known by the trees"

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We are the way we are because someone else wants us to be that way. If you where the only person alive, there would be nobody to judge you thus you would have no way to define yourself in your own mind. I think the way you are is a the image other people have of you.

I just thought this up....just now. Give me a little while and I could come up with another reason.

reply to post by Maddogkull


At the moment, we breed at random and most are strongly opposed to genetic engineering (I'd love to see it implemented however)

So, two parents -- four grandparents -- doesn't take long to appreciate that we descend from tens of thousands of forebears, of every possible disposition. It's all swirling around, with the end-result being ourselves. But of course, those millions of lottery-balls are spun again when we procreate, making it a lucky-dip for our children and for theirs, etc.

We can become infuriated and disgusted by people we meet and hear about, in the same way we admire others. But at base, I think most of us appreciate that none of us had much choice about who and what we are

Is the paedophile himself responsible for the lust he feels re: children ? Or was he 'born that way' ? And this can be applied across the board, don't you feel ?

My take on your question of why we are the way we are is that we are not that way it just appears so! Reality exists solely within experience, at least for me, so implying any sort of causality to events or behavior outside one's own experience is conjecture. I'd have to go with Descartes on this one and say we are the way we are because we are (or we wouldn't be if we weren't).

gj

have you ever observed an alien/foreign species thrive and destroy an environment that it is not naturally suited to harmonise with? why do we only have 46 chromosomes, and our nearest primate relative has 48? Where did our primate strength go? Why are most people afraid of heights? Why aren't we naturally inclined to climb? Why do we have pattern hair and patches? Why do we have mutations in our genetics that nature does not account for?


Many, many questions concerning human nature are still left to be resolved. =D

I thought about this alot because even though I had a bad childhood, for the most part I turned out very okay with a good set of morals. Which does make me think, maybe our childhoods or what not does not have to do with why we are the way we are.

Of course our childhood maybe influence some of our characteristics, but it certainly doesnt shape us as a whole.

Your basically asking what makes us, US. In which the answer is, everything.

reply to post by Maddogkull


because it doesnt mean anything it is all nothing what you specified as different expressions, objectively it is the same nothing source ruled by times creations lives

you are subjectively to yourself, some of your true means can be out but not from times creations objective realities pretenses, your means would be out of yourself free expressions that are of course very limited and equally in any field
that is why it is usually the spirit of the person that define itself being not what it does or its wills manifestations

what you are trying to do is compare human behavior by seeing the specific in the general. In other words - by looking at a large section of society that grows up in a crappy environment, why do some turn out living prosperous and some turn out just causing trouble in vice versa.

What you would have to do is compare the commonalities of the ones who appeared to live a much different lifestyle than what they were brought up in, and then you will find a general human behavior based on specific commonalities.

If not, then a more simpler answer is that all takes is one radical experience to change people's lives forever, and that could be different depending on everyone.

Someone who grows up poor and is used to stealing, may one day find out that what he or she stole got someone they loved hurt, which could ultimately open their eyes into how a life of thievery isn't one they should live.

Or say if someone who grew up in a religious family that was morally strict, started seeing how much fun other people were having by being "heathens", which helped change their path and rebel so they could live a life of excitement.

just some examples, but in all honesty you would have to do some research in the patterns of human behavior based off of living conditions.

edit: spelling

[edit on 24-4-2010 by juveous]