Thursday, February 14, 2008
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Is it possible for a person to change?
Absolutely. A person can change clothes. Or hair color. Or diapers.
Now, for the non-snarky answer to a rather vague question.
Can a person change their personality? No. That, according to Meyers-Briggs, and Keirsey, and Socrates, etc. is immutable. A person can however, change their behavior. If they want to badly enough.
Can one person change another? Don't bet on it, at least not by ethical means. You can manipulate and terrorize a person into changing their behavior, but, why would you want to?
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Comments (5)
I think a person can chage their manner and disposition...but they have to "want" to. It's like the physical appearance of an overweight person. They "have to want" to be thin and work at achieving it...really work. So, I do think personality change is possible but desire to do so must be a passionate one. Too few have the mettle of character to make this possible, though. And...you have to be aware you "can" change...for the better.
change is good...
A Zen Buddhist monk goes up to a hotdog seller in Central Park and says, "Make me one with everything." He gets back his loaded hotdog and pays with a $10 bill which the hotdog seller pockets. The monk asks, "What about the change?" The hotdog seller replies, "Change comes from within".
even change by cohersion is not guarenteed :P You stated it perfectly. People can only change their behavior (and habits)...but only if they really want to and only if they make the decision on their own for themselves.
Hmm... I think I might have to disagree with you on this one. Or at least, I think people have a range of personality traits and characteristics, some of them even contradicting each other but present in the same person. The characteristics that take precedence can change over time, or even depending on who the person is dealing with.
I will agree that you can't make a person change. Some people may inspire others to make some change in their lives, but if it has any chance of sticking, the person undergoing the change has to want it, because there's effort involved, and why should someone invest energy in something she really doesn't want?