ANSWERS: 17
  • I definately feel that our culture and who and what we are surrounded by have a huge impact on our personality and beliefs.
  • A very big part,yet I beleive we are resposible for who we become.As we grow and become mature we have the responsibility to become better than what was handed to us! Good and bad!
  • I believe that our backgrounds can influence our outlook on how we view things, but I believe we're ultimately responsible for the kind of person that we become.
  • Our genetics, background, and circumstances don't only influence but make us who we are. As far as we can tell, nothing about how the brain works violates the laws of physics. When we make decisions and actions, we really couldn't have chosen differently (and quantum considerations, that probably don't apply at the level of brain cells or even the large molecules of which they're composed, would only make our behaviour random, not free). In a very real deep philosophical sense, we're not at all responsible for anything we do or who we become.
  • I really agree that they do influence us a lot. The answer to your second question is not an either/or. Even now there are many influences in our lives and we get to choose what we do with them. Some who have been terribly abused or neglected have become monsters who have committed unspeakable crimes. Some who had every advantage have also become criminals and victimizers. On the other hand, there are those who have overcome these hardships and taken responsible for their actions. It is very hard to do, but possible. The Bible gives the example of Cain and Abel. They had the same parents and similar upbringing. No doubt their parents carried a lot of guilt over the problems they had brought on all mankind and this made things really hard for their children. When God saw a bad tendency in Cain, he kindly counseled him to get past his anger and do right. He refused and became the first murderer. Abel, under the same conditions, was a good and gentle man who accepted counsel and has a good name even today. We may have emotional or mental problems that really try us and tend to control our actions. Still, we can seek help and take a course to overcome these problems. Just today i ran into a man i've known for years. He has a serious mental condition and many wrote him off as hopeless. He has a job and a car and isn't in any trouble. Why? Because he has not given up. He knows he's not well, but keeps struggling to do what is right and is happy in spite of an incurable mental problem. He's taking responsibility for himself. Everyone can do his best, regardless of the influences that come from outsidle. Our inner choices are more important and powerful
  • It seems self-evident that our background and circumstances influence who we are... This is why we have 'cultures' at all, and not random anarchies of personalities permeating all societies, all the time ; ) However, it's key to point out it is just an -influence-, not a deciding or primary factor (perhaps it can be primary at times, but that isn't a valid generalisation to make IMO). For example, I was raised in a multicultural society, in a well-off family. As such, I literally -can not- grasp the reasons why people would be racist or otherwise discriminatory in the manner that they so often are around the world. I have simply never had a reason to think the same way, and as such I have become a person who is thoroughly 'for' multicultural societies (or rather, societies that are accepting of all cultures - there's no reason to just mix cultures together for the sake of mixing cultures together; that can be counter-productive at times). In my more recent years (late teens), I have sat down and thought about the subject a bit (and came to the same conclusion I had always held anyway), but before that it was simply a part of my personality - I didn't rationally come to the conclusion, it was just how I thought because of the society I've grown up in. ***** Again, it seems self-evident to me that our background and circumstances 'influence' who we are.
  • I believe that our background DOES influence who we are. It's very evident, actually...and one person's history IN GENERAL will repeat in their children's life as well. However, we also have the ability to rise above what we have come from...whether it be good or bad.
  • We aren't responsible for who we are, the only thing we are responsible for is what we choose to do.
  • I believe everthing influences us...our genes, our environment, our intellect, our temperament, our character...we are responsible for our actions and reactions always. We absorb everything and it is up to us to select a lifestyle that resonates with us, that makes sense to us, and to which we can be faithful throughout our lives. If we include being kind and being helpful to others, I believe that makes for a very good life. :)
  • Both will play a part in who we are. Those who don't take responsibility for who they become risk being a victim of circumstance.
  • I think the circumstances of our upbringing influence us to a certain degree. But ultimately, we have to decide if we will let how we were raised make us better people or let it defeat us.
  • We have little control of what happens to us as children, but, as adults, we have control. Saying that we cannot change because of what happened to us is a cop out. If you know that something influenced you for the worse, then do something about it. Get counselling, deal with it. You are 50% responsible at least for how you are as an adult. Work on that. Yes, things can influence us, but, yes, we can change if we really want to. It might be a struggle we have to go through for the rest of our lives, but the struggle to change is worth it, when we achieve at least some of our goals.
  • 8-23-2017 You say background and circumstances, some people call it training, the rest of the world calls it breeding and upbringing. Whatever you call it, somebody GIVES it to you specifically so you won't be deficient. But when you reach adulthood, you are the one to get punished for your lack, if you were never given those gifts.
  • * It plays a major part in our lives, but we are Free Moral Agent. Being made in God
  • Totally responsible, everything else is an excuse.
  • i think its true
  • How you are raised makes all the difference in the world. Once you get to a certain point, the choices that you make will have the same effect.

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