Comments on: Never Born http://stayontop.org/2012/04/02/never-born/ Independent and unbiased blog about a wide range of depression-related topics Sat, 18 May 2013 06:45:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: chaoticpreon http://stayontop.org/2012/04/02/never-born/#comment-1846 Wed, 24 Oct 2012 21:02:56 +0000 http://stayontop.org/?p=6007#comment-1846 Very interesting notion. I have a lot of psychological issues, and I felt suicidal for a long time. It’s nice to read how other people see interpret life in a philosophical way.

]]> By: pierre turle http://stayontop.org/2012/04/02/never-born/#comment-1169 Wed, 23 May 2012 16:32:52 +0000 http://stayontop.org/?p=6007#comment-1169 At least you understood it what I proposed, I’ve told others about this article and it seems so few of them do,
good luck finding answers

]]> By: Henk http://stayontop.org/2012/04/02/never-born/#comment-1119 Sat, 19 May 2012 20:13:34 +0000 http://stayontop.org/?p=6007#comment-1119 Hi Pierre,
Your comment is very interesting because it reflects a question that philosophers and others have been struggling with since long ago: are we primarily the product of Nature or Nurture? This is about whether the core of our personality has been pre-programmed by Nature (in modern terms: the accidental combination of DNA, of the genes that were fused at the very moment of our conception) or if it is rather the product of Nurture (the continuous series of intentional and unintentional outside events that were fed into the “blank canvas” of our minds during the course of our life, especially in the first twenty years when we grew up).
My own view, and perhaps this will disappoint you a little, is that probably any clear-cut answer is outside our grasp: that it may well be a bit of both. I’ve come to this somewhat lame conclusion simply because I feel there are so many different indications that can point to either the first or the second option.
For an example, let me stick just with my depression theme here. I myself come from a large family where (in spite of my parents being good and caring) several of the children had psychical troubles. I was not the only one with suicidal tendencies: a sister of mine actually killed herself. My own daughter has also had depression episodes. All this seems to point to the “Nature” option: maybe depression runs in my family as the result of some unlucky combination of shared genes we were born with.
On the other hand, I think it’s also probable that my father – who I remember as a somewhat silent, serious personality – may in part have become who he was because of his wartime experiences: he probably was to some extent traumatized by the rough time he had during the Nazi occupation. I think it’s likely that without that, he might have evolved into a different, more light-hearted kind of person. And as a parent, educating us, he also may have transferred some of his own mentality to his children. This seems to point to the “Nurture” option: maybe chance outside events helped shape our character.
In short, I’m sorry but I just don’t know for sure which one of the two perspectives is most important.
The only thing I do know is that a totally one-sided “Nature” vision, where the main traits of our personality are destined from birth, is unlikely or at least an unattractive idea. For this could easily lead to some kind of determinism (everything is predisposed) and from there to fatalism. I think there must be at least a strong “Nurture” factor as well: as illustrated by the fact that by actively changing and steering outside events (like choosing a totally different daily life environment) we sometimes prove able to change our own personality, too.
I’m aware that my answer may be not very satisfying, but for the moment this is the best I can do…

]]> By: pierre turle http://stayontop.org/2012/04/02/never-born/#comment-1117 Sat, 19 May 2012 18:14:46 +0000 http://stayontop.org/?p=6007#comment-1117 Say we are born without personalities: our mind is a blank canvas. Every choice you’ve ever made in your life is a direct result of an event which has happened.

Say I was born instead of you, and i became you, and I wrote this article exactly as you have.

Say there are no ‘unborn’ consciousness’, but conciousness develops as we do, then we are the product of an environment, and that environment is the only thing which differentiates my mindsets from anyone else’s

I would love to have your opinion on this_

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