Defining Oneself

2008-06-17T05:08:00.004+09:00

This is written in response to Colin Tosper's "Defining the Mind..."

While minds and thinking processes are defined by many things, some, as we have stated, are more key than others. Experience plays a vital role in the definition of oneself, in the shaping of the individual, and Colin has aforementioned that experience is a key role in maturity. I am not trying to assert that experience deftly creates all our thoughts, reactions, and ideas, as did John Locke with his 'tabula rasa'. But I think that It is both our experiences and our reactions to them that shape our mindset, our personality. Some body of personality must have come with us at birth.

Experience brings with it many things. Often we learn from experience, but it also forever alters us. We are not the same person we were last week. This learning, among other things, is what changes us, mostly. But not everyone learns. One smoker may quit after seeing the horrible effects of cigarettes on others' lives, but another may continue his habit, despite the knowledge that he has gained. Yet even though he has not changed his habit, he is now a different person - even if this knowledge is a slight change, he has gained something he did not have before. Experience alters one's personality in an unavoidable way.

In a large extent we are in control of the development of our mindset, of ourselves. Our actions affect what happens around us; thus, by changing our actions, we may control our experiences. Many times, the actions of others or events around us may be influenced by our own actions. Yet even our own actions are influenced before they take place. Our thoughts shape our actions daily. Thinking about a particular subject often will make a person more likely to speak of it or to act on it. Without first thinking of it, one cannot perform an action. It is illogical - something never seen or examined by the mind cannot take place, for it is our mind that commands our actions. The mastermind cannot issue a command that has never existed for it. Thus by controlling our thoughts, we can shape our personality, our actions, and to a lesser extent, our experiences. The power to change oneself rests in the mind.

Nobuto's Notes

Defining Oneself