[Cold Iron]

Ok, picture a hydrogen atom. One little nucleus containing a solitary proton and around it a probability cloud containing an electron.

Now imagine that the proton is your "true self", your core, the immutable soul that makes you you, and the electron cloud is your ego, the part of you that changes to suit the situation, the malleable, adaptable part.

Now here is my question: How much, if at all, is your personality shaped by your true self and how much by your ego?

[Optimus Prime]

I'd say maybe 60% of you is your "true self" while 40% of you is your "ego". You're born with certain characteristics, but of course as you grow and adapt to your environment...your ego can dictate things as well.

[Cold Iron]

What characteristics are you born with?

[Optimus Prime]

I think we all have natural tendencies. These can of course be changed or eradicated through life experiences, or maybe not eradicated but smothered.

[Cold Iron]

Example?

[Bhurnae]

Keep Warm,find Food like others around

[Optimus Prime]

Well. I'll use my family as an example. I'm one of 4 children, 3 boys and a girl.

My sister is the oldest, followed by my brother James, me, then my little brother.

My two brothers have tempers. Always have. Since they were little, while I'm much calmer and more laid back.

My older brother has mellowed...but still doesn't take shit. While I've kind of become more fiery as I've gotten older, though still referred to as a "kind soul" by my mother. She says I have always been that way, since I was little.

Don't know if this makes sense....but my mother thinks my brothers have always had a chip on their shoulders (my father wasn't around a lot for the older siblings, he worked all the time) while my little brother is gay. Make sense?

[Cold Iron]

Bhurnae;264147 said:

Keep Warm,find Food like others around

These are instincts, not personality traits.

Xander;264148 said:

Well. I'll use my family as an example. I'm one of 4 children, 3 boys and a girl.

My sister is the oldest, followed by my brother James, me, then my little brother.

My two brothers have tempers. Always have. Since they were little, while I'm much calmer and more laid back.

My older brother has mellowed...but still doesn't take shit. While I've kind of become more fiery as I've gotten older, though still referred to as a "kind soul" by my mother. She says I have always been that way, since I was little.

Don't know if this makes sense....but my mother thinks my brothers have always had a chip on their shoulders (my father wasn't around a lot for the older siblings, he worked all the time) while my little brother is gay. Make sense?

Not really. You have just demonstrated that people show certain personality traits from a young age, you also attributed the differences with factors that clearly come into play after birth (your father). So are you or are you not saying your brothers were born angry?

[Morgoth]

I know one should generally keep personal, individual experiences out of this sort of questions, but I still have to mention this.

I went on a fishing trip with the biological father of a friend of mine. They'd just recently met, as my friend was given out for adoption a few weeks after birth. This was their first serious social thing together, and so i was asked to come with.

My friend has been a silent guy as long as I've known him. It's not that he's asocial in any ways, he just likes to sit back and listen. So, it turns out, did his father. It's not that the atmosphere was tense. They seemed remarkably relaxed with each other. Speaking here and there, smoking, discussing stuff, life, the universe, that sort of thing. Still there were many long, long periods of silence were they just.. well.. relaxed, just as my friend always does.

My point is that they were so similar in character I was quite astonished.

[Optimus Prime]

Cold Iron;264152 said:

These are instincts, not personality traits.



Not really. You have just demonstrated that people show certain personality traits from a young age, you also attributed the differences with factors that clearly come into play after birth (your father). So are you or are you not saying your brothers were born angry?

Yes. My older brother definitely. Has always been quick to anger.

Do you want to add your own thoughts or just continually question mine?

@Morgoth---Good example, I've seen this before as well. A friend I grew up with was eerily similar to a father he didn't meet until he was in his teens.

[Cold Iron]

@morgoth: Have you also met his mother? What if she were on that boat and talked nervously the whole time?

Xander;264155 said:

Yes. My older brother definitely. Has always been quick to anger.

Do you want to add your own thoughts or just continually question mine?

Diabolical baby? I think this is a fairly strange argument to make. "always" or "since an early age"?

I will continue to question others and share my thoughts when the thread has run out of steam

[Optimus Prime]

You love the Devil's Advocate role, don't you CI?

[Cold Iron]

Xander;264158 said:

You love the Devil's Advocate role, don't you CI?

I just hate "let's agree to disagree" situations. It's lazy.

[Optimus Prime]

Oh I agree, but let's hear what you have to say.....because right now it is a one man discussion....unless Morgy comes back

[Cold Iron]

How would you describe the personality of a buddhist monk?

[Optimus Prime]

I don't know any...so I can't say.

Calm? At Peace?

[Cold Iron]

This is because they believe (in a nutshell) that suffering is caused by the ego, thus they attempt to eradicate their ego and hence not suffer.

So if we imagine a buddha, or someone who has attained nirvana and eradicated their ego. Would they still have a personality?

[Optimus Prime]

Assuming that is possible (which I don't really buy) yes they would still have a personality. They would still react to things. They would still care about something. They would still follow their habits.

[Cold Iron]

Therein lies the point. Caring about something. Without an ego, you must care about everything equally because everything is part of creation.

Two people without egos would be essentially indistinguishable apart from physical attributes. Would they then have identical personalities?

[Bhurnae]

[quote name='Cold Iron;264152]These are instincts' date=' not personality traits./QUOTE']

True oh dismissive one........denial of any of those items could lead to one becoming aggressive in the pursuit of a supply or show anger