Is there a reason as to why you did that?

cleanbluesky

cleanbluesky

cleanbluesky

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Simple question really. I think that there is generally a reason as to why people are the way that they are, but I think that a lot of people disagree...

Do you think

1) People's personalities and behaviour are a result of them 'being who they are'

2) People's personalities and behaviours the way any person would act if they had experienced exactly what that person had experienced and felt the same way about themselves as that person did

3) People's personalities are a mystery, there are probably ways that a person acts the way they do but they are so personal or complex that you just can't figure it out



The reason that I ask is because I pay attention to the way in which people behave and ask why they do such things. I firmly believe that there is a reason for every behaviour and that reasons are made obvious by the nature of the behaviour. I think that deep down, everyone wants everyone else to know what makes them who they are...
 
Interesting questions.
May I ask you a few questions?
Your need for analysis of people, is it, is it a sexual problem or something deeper?
Tell me about your childhood?
Your mother, tell me about her?

:)
 
Two years of enduring Psychology A level (and doing really badly at it) has achieved one thing: paranoia. Now everything I do has a meaning, a purpose, a source? **** off.
I'm a big believer in nature and believe it's the nurture that corrupts.
 
Are we doing your homework?

edit - I'm not so sure - I think that people generally are very differently in different situations - and as such since an observer might not understand/know what the entire situation is so it's difficult to then predict something about that person's personality. (Does that make sense lol?).
 
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cleanbluesky said:
I think that deep down, everyone wants everyone else to know what makes them who they are...
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I truly, truly don't care if people know/don't know what makes me who I am. I actually though about it for a while am keep coming to the same conclusion.
 
I think there is a biological/genetic factor and a phycological factor, even if you were to understand the phycological, the genetic factors would influence the outcome giving a different answer than expected.

If two people had identical expirences & or history the genetic varience would alter the results between the two.
I'm probably wrong but thats what i would expect to happen.

"personal or complex" i would agree to some extent but "people" are also copy cats, they copy cat social interactions in order to progress/interact in social groups as a way of syncing to each other when you try and chap members of the interested sex up its a natural and unconsiause reaction to mimic certain reactions be it crossing the legs, or rotating your foot. To allow someone to truly know how you work is to give them power over you and to trust them completly, there are very few people realistically you could achieve this, as it mans revealing your deepest darkest secrets, desires, wants, hates, dislikes, enjoys, loves all without the other person judging you or using you.

A person abused at a young age wold more likely feel uncumfatable with member of the same sex that did the abusing, or a person that had an accident in a car may not drive again or be very reluctant.

in short there seems to be many factors that add up to bigger fators that branch out into other factors. the more you think about them the more the abis grows and the question mount. "did i say the right thing" "did i do the right action" "would it have been better if i had done it another way" "what if's" "what do they really think" "ho far can i tell them something" "do they really want me around" "what do they actually think"

rambling end.
 
Free Will and determinism springs to mind? Or John Calvin and his theory of Calvinism. Studying philosophy and ethics at A level its an area weve strayed into, more to do with actions than personality though.
 
I think peoples' personalities are largely a product of their upbringing. For instance, people who had controlling parents seem to want to rebel whereas people who had passive parents seem to feel an urge to conform.

However, ultimately, everyone is unique and will react to their experiences in different ways creating a complex personality all of their own.

So... 3 I guess ;)
 
ninja economist said:
Okay, so you're a psychologist now?

THAT DON'T IMPRESSA ME MUCH.
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So, you've been listening to Shania Twain. I'm sure there's a deep psychological problem right there in itself.
 
Adz said:
I think peoples' personalities are largely a product of their upbringing. For instance, people who had controlling parents seem to want to rebel whereas people who had passive parents seem to feel an urge to conform.

However, ultimately, everyone is unique and will react to their experiences in different ways creating a complex personality all of their own.

So... 3 I guess ;)
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I agree with that our upbringing has a big impact on how we are. a lot of this has been proven (cant remember where i read it). Then as we get older i think we get more and more complex because we all see different things and interact with different people which influences who we are, so i say definitely 3.
 
Kell_ee001 said:
Good old nature v. nurture, eh?

Does everything happen because of something thats happened to us or because it's how we were born to be?
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both.

when you are born you have, lets call it, a toolbox with some tools in it. as you get older you learn new things, gain opinions and other things, these go into your toolbox. that toolbox is how you are, how you deal with different things, using tools for each moment in your life. you are now a product of nature and nurture and will do things based on both how you were born to be and things that have happened to you.
 
cleanbluesky said:
The reason that I ask is because I pay attention to the way in which people behave and ask why they do such things. I firmly believe that there is a reason for every behavior and that reasons are made obvious by the nature of the behavior. I think that deep down, everyone wants everyone else to know what makes them who they are...
Click to expand...
Same here, but I don't get too bogged down in the psychological minutiae, because everyone knows that psychology is just junk science, about on par with astrology or water divining.

There's a reason for every behavior, usually stemming from:

1. A need for attention.
2. A need to show that you're not the same as everyone else (see 1).
3. A desire to make someone in particular notice you (see 1).
4. A desire to get some advantage without drawing attention to yourself.

So yah, basically I think people are attention whores except when they realise that it might benefit them not to be. Next?
 
Despite all the argument for genetics, I believe that your experiences as a child seriously shape the person you are.

I'm 100% sure that what I went though as a child has made me:

a) Cynical
b) Untrusting
c) To a degree - negative in outlook.

Not much you can do about it tbh. I was however brought up to "Do unto others", despite no religious connotations to my upbringing whatsoever.
 
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