"Men's natures are alike; it is their habits that carry them far apart." Confucius, ancient Chinese philosopher
What place does the Confucian version of the "nature vs nurture" argument have in a "Keep Calm & Carry On" calendar?
But since the calendar people tossed it on the heap, I will take the opportunity to take exception to it. Yes, I'm disagreeing with Confucius. I'm also disagreeing with Anne Frank, who wishfully expressed the opinion that all men are good. Because I don't believe all people have the same nature.
I believe that we are born with our own natures and, as we make our way through life, these core natures color how we react to challenge and acheivement and adversity and anything else we wander into or that the world hurls at us.
Two of the similar nature who face different challenges and rewards in life will have their characters diverge. Not because of their "habits" but because their experiences will deliver different results from those habits. One who is trusting by nature but whose trust is betrayed will diverge from one of the same nature whose trust is validated. As the same challenges and rewards will bear different fruit to those of different natures (consider the old glass-half-empty-glass-half-full).
When it comes to whether we all have the same nature, I'll have to stick with Aesop.
Quotes-of-the day from the 2014 Keep Calm & Carry On desk calendar
No comments:
Post a Comment