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"'a cobination of innate abilities, working hard, having the right attitude, and having high moral character and integrity' which are all things that I can and
by gnosis 16y ago
"'a cobination of innate abilities, working hard, having the right attitude, and having high moral character and integrity' which are all things that I can and do control."
Do you really control those?
Let's take them one at a time:
- innate abilities - Do you control your innate abilities? The whole point of them being innate is that you're born with them. Do you control what abilities you're born with? If so, I'd sure like to learn that trick.
- right attitude - If you're depressed that could put a damper on your attitude. And no, seriously depressed people can't just "snap out of it". And it's not their fault they're depressed. Much the same could be said about various other emotional and psychological issues that could hamper having a "right attitude". And this doesn't even get in to the question what the "right attitude" is, or in to the phenomena of "learned helplessness".
- having high moral character and integrity - Much of this is due to the environment you grew up in, and your family and friends. Not much you can do about any of those except your friends. And to spurn anyone who wants to be friends with you usually takes a whole lot more consciousness and "character" than most kids have. And if they do have it, it's likely due, again, to the influence of their environment, friends, and family.
Finally, there are other, more philosophical issues such as whether anyone has free will at all. If we don't have free will, then (by definition) we have no control over what we do.
- sosuke 16y agoYou're right that you can't change the abilities you are born with but if you do use the skills that come easy to you then you can learn new abilities or work around your inabilities with those you had from birth. I've been depressed and suicidal and if you believe that genetics contribute to it then it runs in the family since my father and brother also suffered from it. One of the most wonderful things about depression though for me was with the help of medication I was able to overcome it. Depression is just one medical issue that can effect your "right attitude" but with the right assistance you can work through those problems. You have control over your attitude. (Up to a point, there are cases where the brain as magnificent as it is will not function normally and can result in a permanent inability to have the "right attitude") I don't believe that we are a sole product of our environment, we aren't what society made us. I haven't always had "high moral character and integrity" but I've change how I think over time about my life. You can change how you think, I believe we aren't set in stone completely. Ah and then free will comes into play. I believe we have free will and thus we have complete control and responsibility for what we do.