Does our intrinsic traits ever change? I know we all evolve, we all grow, but to what extent? A lion even when old and feeble would still be a lion -brave and proud. He might look helpless when old, or mellowed down by his inaction, but is he really? On the other hand no matter how noble a jackal gets, or brave a rat feels, they will always remain what they are.
Isn't it amazing though that in nature, no one tries to imitate the other being? Each is content to just be. Unlike the other species in the world, we humans have this uncanny quality of wearing masks, and pretending to be what we are not. Part of the ritual of growing up is learning to hide our emotions or at least express it the way society has deemed acceptable.
Before long, we all learn to keep up appearances, and molding our personalities to gain acceptance Over the years we get so good at wearing masks that our genuine essence as a person is lost among all the different personalities we have learnt to live with .
For instance, someone who is born with aggressive traits might as years go by seem to mellowed down, but rest assured that the traits though at times not visible are still dormant, have maybe become so sophisticated that detection is impossible. Or at times we ourselves forget what are the qualities that we were born with, being more ready to believe the people around us as to who and what we are. Our parents, peers, expectations of society and our experience are all involved in deciding if we will ever get to meet our true selves.
On the other hand it is foolishness or mere arrogance on our part to believe that we can change people - maybe influence their attitudes to certain extent, or pressurize someone to subdue or camouflage their characteristics to be more society friendly, but to assume that people change over time is just not true as a rule. Of course as always generalizations and rules are meant to be broken.
No comments:
Post a Comment