The notion of having innate traits

RedEyedAbyss

Yes, I know that nature vs nurture is a false dichotomy, but it still bugs me that humans would be born with a predisposition towards certain traits and influences. At least being a selfish brat can be grown of, but I have held some of my other viewpoints for as long as I can remember, and it's eerie that I cannot trace it to a specific origin, only experiences that strengthened or weakened those positions.

Firebert

It's called being an individual. We're all innately different, and that includes our viewpoints. Even if we were all raised the same way in the same environments, it's inevitable that we'd have differences.

Icalasari

^ Over all of time there is bound to be someone exactly like you

Firebert

That'd be... uncanny, but I get the feeling there'd be at least one small difference.

LouieW

Abyss_Worm,

Well, merely being predisposed to do something is not the same as being predestined to do it, right? As for your viewpoints, I am not totally sure this makes sense, but I feel like one can be inclined to have a certain viewpoint and still be able to make arguments for why that position is good or reasonable.

I wonder if going too far in terms of genetic predisposition and innate traits can sometimes lead to people  tossing out important bits of the idea of personal responsibility in favor of a thoroughly subjective view. Acknowledging that people are inherently different makes a lot of sense to me, but I think it can get problematic if people do not recognize some kind of basic unifying point like morality or humanity.

ClockworkUniverse

^^^But different times are different. For example, if there was someone really close to me in 1420, he wouldn't share my opinion on the internet, or my favorite works of fiction, obviously.

MillerCross

You forget that life experiences also really tend to differentiate people.