12 shot dead at movie theater

[devilof76]

No matter what nature provides a person with (I do not believe any person born---ever---is predisposed to certain behavior, short of literal brain damage, and even that only limits the extent of their cognitive ability) and no matter what their developmental environment may be, their individual choices will be what determines who they become. That is why media, etc. does not matter. You are presented with the world you are born into, and it is your choice how you deal with it.

 

[Voorhees27]

I....wish? Wierd thing to say. Instead I would wish for a heaven for the people whose mortal lives have been unfairly cut short.

Both. There's a helluva lot more to just this world. But I don't want to cause a holy war thread derailment. So I'll shut up now

No matter what nature provides a person with (I do not believe any person born---ever---is predisposed to certain behavior, short of literal brain damage, and even that only limits the extent of their cognitive ability) and no matter what their developmental environment may be, their individual choices will be what determines who they become. That is why media, etc. does not matter. You are presented with the world you are born into, and it is your choice how you deal with it.

Very well said actually.

 

[Centurion]

No matter what nature provides a person with (I do not believe any person born---ever---is predisposed to certain behavior, short of literal brain damage, and even that only limits the extent of their cognitive ability) and no matter what their developmental environment may be, their individual choices will be what determines who they become. That is why media, etc. does not matter. You are presented with the world you are born into, and it is your choice how you deal with it.

Agree with everything except this.
Yes, we are free to make choices. Those choices help create who we are. However, those choices "can" be heavily influenced by the environment and society.

Studies on twins have been conducted to show this.

 

[devilof76]

It's a choice to allow yourself to be unduly influenced by external forces.

 

[Wulf]

It's a choice to allow yourself to be unduly influenced by external forces.

In my opinion choice is influenced by external forces.

 

[devilof76]

You are choosing based on information you receive from outside of yourself, but the choice is an independent act.

That's what makes it a choice.

 

[devilof76]

Very well said actually.

Thanks.

 

[Wulf]

You are choosing based on information you receive from outside of yourself, but the choice is an independent act.

That's what makes it a choice.

Yes, an independent act. Of course. But our choices are influenced by everything we experience in life.

 

[jye4ever]

You are choosing based on information you receive from outside of yourself, but the choice is an independent act.

That's what makes it a choice.

I wish I could afford thousands of dollars more in collectibles, but I can't.

I see everyones big beautiful collections here in the forum.

I still make a choice to not go steal money because I much rather have less collectibles than I do now than get sent to jail and be taken away from my family, who need me.

Choice made.

 

[Wulf]

I wish I could afford thousands of dollars more in collectibles, but I can't.

I see everyones big beautiful collections here in the forum.

I still make a choice to not go steal money because I much rather have less collectibles than I do now so that I don't get sent to jail and be taken away from my family, who need me.

Choice made.

Because your life experience has shaped you this way. But, an extreme example, if someone taught you to steal since you were young you wouldn't have the opinion you have now. Agree?

 

[devilof76]

Yes, an independent act. Of course. But our choices are influenced by everything we experience in life.

You're just repeating yourself.

If your choices are influenced by anything, it's the choices you've already made. No external stimuli can make you choose one way or the other.

 

[jye4ever]

Because your life experience has shaped you this way. But, an extreme example, if someone taught you to steal since you were young you wouldn't have the opinion you have now. Agree?

I stole playboys and candy bars and snuck into movies when I was young, no one influenced me to do it.

I grew up and realized that was wrong.

Never stole again.

 

[Wulf]

I stole playboys and candy bars and snuck into movies when I was young, no one influenced me to do it.

I grew up and realized that was wrong.

Never stole again.

Because no one made you realize that it was wrong and you had needs.

 

[Wulf]

You're just repeating yourself.

If your choices are influenced by anything, it's the choices you've already made. No external stimuli can make you choose one way or the other.

Right, but if you go back a step it's still influenced by external forces as you call it. It wasn't my choice to like the food I grew up eating, someone taught me to eat it. After that, I make my choices to eat similar food because I like it (which is only logical if you grew up with it). I might have thought it was my choice to eat that food, but it wasn't.

 

[devilof76]

I was told all kinds of food were good when I was a child. I decided which ones I liked and which ones I didn't.

If the only way to learn if something is good or bad is by being shown by others, how does anyone ever figure something out for the first time?

 

[DarkArtist81]

Hey what's up, Josh? Long time no talk.

Not much man.... getting close to having all the old backlog work taken care of. Painting again, hunting for jobs (real world stuff not paint work)... enjoying life with my son.

 

[thenammagazine]

I agree with this 100%. However you simply must admit that no matter how hard some parents try, maniacs will still pop up. Even with a good upbringing.

While true, it's the exception, not the rule.

 

[Wulf]

I was told all kinds of food were good when I was a child. I decided which ones I liked and which ones I didn't.

If the only way to learn if something is good or bad is by being shown by others, how does anyone ever figure something out for the first time?

You would have to go back a long time in our past to know how that went about. This is just a hypothesis: The first time a species realizes that violence is bad is when they get to experience it caused by someone else and they realize it hurts and that's a feeling they want to avoid.

And you did choose the food you liked, because of taste. Do you decide which food should taste good or bad to you?

 

[devilof76]

A whole species doesn't realize something. Individuals realize things if they exert the requisite mental effort to understand what they are confronted with. Cognition is an independent activity, and beyond the perceptual level, it is not automatic.

Yes, I chose the food I liked because of the taste. No, I didn't choose which ones tasted good or bad, but that was not the point of your example. The point you made was that you were taught which food to like and which to not. I was not taught.

 

[thenammagazine]

But doesn't that make you self-taught?