[b]Malcolm Gladwell
Character isn’t what we think it is or, rather, what we want it to be. It isn’t a stable, easily identifiable set of closely related traits, and it only seems that way because of a glitch in the way our brains are organized. Character is more like a bundle of habits and tendencies and interests, loosely bound together and dependent, at certain times, on circumstance and context.[/b]
Sounds [more or less] like an existential contraption to me.
You can’t concentrate on doing anything if you are thinking, “What’s gonna happen if it doesn’t go right?”
On the other hand, sometimes that is more or less beyond our control.
Our world requires that decisions be sourced and footnoted, and if we say how we feel, we must also be prepared to elaborate on why we feel that way. I think that approach is a mistake, and if we are to learn to improve the quality of the decisions we make, we need to accept the mysterious nature of our snap judgements. We need to respect the fact that it is possible to know without knowing why we know and accept that — sometimes — we’re better off that way.
I’ll accept yours half way if you’ll accept mine.
Look at the world around you. It may seem like an immovable, implacable place. It is not. With the slightest push—in just the right place—it can be tipped.
If not out and out toppled.
When people in authority want the rest of us to behave, it matters—first and foremost—how they behave.
That and who they can pardon.
I feel I change my mind all the time. And I sort of feel that’s your responsibility as a person, as a human being – to constantly be updating your positions on as many things as possible. And if you don’t contradict yourself on a regular basis, then you’re not thinking.
The sheer gall of suggesting that. Right, Mr. Objectivist?