Posted by obsidian on August 27, 2008, at 22:29:03
In reply to What % of personality is just neurotransmitters?, posted by Chris O on August 20, 2008, at 13:33:11
> Due to my anxiety disorder and depression, I've always had a very external locus of control approach to life and interpreting others' personalities. I pose a question: What percent of personality/behavior is just a matter of the way chemicals (or hormones and genetics) are arranged in our bodies? And, if that percentage is very high, doesn't it pretty much scrap the whole free will argument? Doesn't it do away with the idea of "hero" and "better than/worse than," at least as they are conventionally defined in western individualistic terms?
My goodness, now there is a question. Add it to upbringing, socioeconomic status, traumatic events, etc. and how those further affect our biochemistry and that is an even more difficult question to answer.
Who I am is both a symptom and a reaction to the "illness" I suffer with (anxiety, depression, other stuff)>And, might this not help us all organize a new empathic paradigm for relating to others so that we can stop resorting to violence as a way to solve problems?
I try to tell myself, (although truth be told it doesn't always make sense to me, but I trust it just the same) that people generally do the best they can at any given moment depending on what they know, who they are, their experience
I still get angry, sad, disgusted, whatever, in reaction thoughI hope other people respond to this, it's an interesting question
poster:obsidian
thread:847393
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/neuro/20080706/msgs/848703.html