My discussion over at Sister's Talk has led me to another question. How possible is it for us to rewrite our natural wiring? Whether our sexual desires, the degree to which we wish to socialize, the degree of clean that satisfies, how we view exercise, are these hardwired into ourselves? Is it possible to successfully erase these tendencies and replace them with other tendencies, at least to some extent, or is it only a sham? Will a slob always be a slob and need to constantly keep up with some sort of program to keep from sliding into sloppiness? Will the sloth always have to force themselves to exercise? The glutton always fear food? Or can we become the person we want to be, albeit through great effort, wanting what was formerly shunned, and having no, or little desire for what formerly ruled us?
Posted by Rachel Ann at October 15, 2004 09:03 AMI think these things are hardwired for the most part, but with the influence/pressure of society and our peers, a kind of bypass takes place, that makes us adapt behavior that skips past the original hardwiring. At the same time I see strong evidence that children who revolt against parent values will, eventually with maturity, revert to those original values. I think we all have a conscience and when one takes time to turn their thoughts inside, there is a small voice that does guide us if we want to listen. Unfortunately, so many people have such busy lives that they never take time to listen, and eventually the voice becomes silent.
Posted by: Roberta S at October 15, 2004 03:06 PMWhen you exert enough mental pressure on any subject, you can almost always effect a change (or keep something as is, per the direction of the pressure).
This doesn't work easily, though, because things like sexual desires, social tendencies, and exercise preferences are also affected by individual physiology.
Still, I like to think that the brain wins all.
Posted by: JEA at October 15, 2004 08:25 PMI've come to believe that people don't/can't change the bare basics of their personality without some kind of trauma.
For ye-e-e-rs I've wanted to stop smoking. But it wasn't until I had chest pains that I finally did it.
Personalities can, and do, slouch. But reality can slap 'em straight. Occasionally.
Posted by: Tuning Spork at October 16, 2004 02:26 AMPeople absolutely can change the lessons they learned in the early years of development. When we discover the reasons behind the behavior, we can choose other ways of meeting those needs.
We can not change who we are, but we can change how we act.
Its not an easy process, and one that many humans will not subject themselves to, it's simply easier to blame it on our upbringing and not take responsiblity for our lives.
All things are possible if you are willing to discover your own truth.
That is a great question and one I've also considered especially in light of homosexuality. Is homosexuality really the same as color, gender,etc? I don't believe it is because of my belief in God and His Word. It's clear from scripture that homosexualtiy is deviant from what God intended and so it doesn't stand to reason that he created anyone that way. But I do realize this is a very unpopular viewpoint these days.
Posted by: Andrea at October 16, 2004 05:16 PMI think they call that "Narrative Therapy". You create a new "narrative" for facts of the past. You can't really change the facts, just the way they are interpreted.
Posted by: Yoel at October 17, 2004 06:01 AM