Are people capable of change?

I don't mean any physical change, I mean change personality wise.

At a young age people can mature, which can completely change the landscape of their personality.

yeahMURS-

At a young age people can mature, which can completely change the landscape of their personality.

Samwel_X

[QUOTE="rawsavon"]Yes. I am an existentialist and believe that you can be anything you want to be/change yourself/better yourself. BUT It is not easy and requires a great deal of effort/work to change the things you do not like about yourself.kulmiye

In my personal experience...LOTS...sometimes years.

IMO it is a lot like AA (they have to first recognize that they have a problem before they can change).
Same here:
-recognize what you do not like/things you want to change
-continually, consistantly, work on them.
-for me, it was jealousy issues (and other thigs)...
I knew that I was wrong and it was something that I wanted to change.
I had to work very hard to change the feelings inside of me.
It required reasoning with myself, self control, and desire/motivation

And in response to your quote of someone else...Yes I do have a degree in Psychology (but not a PhD)

I think they can on the outside but deep down they'll always be the same. If you get what Im saying.Big_Bad_Sad

Yes and it is very easy to do so Yourself. It's very hard to change someone else.
The only factors are do You want it? Do You believe You can? And then You just do it.
I've changed quite a bit physically as well as mentally (and imo also spiritually).

to a certain degree... The way I see it Humans are born with a personality, that gets built on untill you die, the things you absorb (the reflections of the world and invioments around you) can be altered, but I doubt you can change your born personality traits wont be that easy, if at all.

Ive never seen a person change a whole lot, only oppinions, thier quirks, and base never really changes...

An Example: If you are born Introverted, you cant just become extrovert, most parents force thier kids to be outgoing, but if its an introvert child they will just end up with a screw loose.

One can set up a mask of a different personality tho, but it requires that said person always maintain it. you can stray from your path all you want,and as long as you concentrate on it, your personality will be different, but when you relax, or forget about it, you change back.

That said I dont think a personsPersonality is fully developed, untill thier mid 20' so untill that timeare able to change... to a limited degree... althothe baseline was allready laid when you were born, and untill youare about 6-8 years old.

Asking this tho is like giving the OTers a question that no scientists have ever agreed on,the answer depends alot on what yourview of life is, religion and such. I belive in the biology of human nature, that the brain can not just be rewired for whatever purpose you need for it, So I guess the only true way to alter personality is to do some kind of drug that alters the chemestry in the brain?

Others belive that you are in control of your own body and mind, noone has ever been proven right...

to a certain degree... The way I see it Humans are born with a personality, that gets built on untill you die, the things you absorb (the reflections of the world and invioments around you) can be altered, but I doubt you can change your born personality traits wont be that easy, if at all.

Ive never seen a person change a whole lot, only oppinions, thier quirks, and base never really changes...

An Example: If you are born Introverted, you cant just become extrovert, most parents force thier kids to be outgoing, but if its an introvert child they will just end up with a screw loose.

One can set up a mask of a different personality tho, but it requires that said person always maintain it. you can stray from your path all you want,and as long as you concentrate on it, your personality will be different, but when you relax, or forget about it, you change back.

That said I dont think a personsPersonality is fully developed, untill thier mid 20' so untill that timeare able to change... to a limited degree... althothe baseline was allready laid when you were born, and untill youare about 6-8 years old.

Asking this tho is like giving the OTers a question that no scientists have ever agreed on,the answer depends alot on what yourview of life is, religion and such. I belive in the biology of human nature, that the brain can not just be rewired for whatever purpose you need for it, So I guess the only true way to alter personality is to do some kind of drug that alters the chemestry in the brain?

Others belive that you are in control of your own body and mind, noone has ever been proven right...

Maddie_Larkin

I think fundamentally you stay the same forever, though you can change little things about yourself quirks and such

yes ... give me a dollar and i will give you 4 quarters .darcom1

[QUOTE="MURS-"]yeahkulmiye

It's true.

There has to be a reason for people to change. Its all about social norms and sanctioning.

If I burnt down churches for a living, the authorities would eventually find me and lock me up. People don't like it when others burn churches. It's not socially or legally acceptable. I did something unacceptable so I was punished.

In a less extreme example, if I decided to be a cool dude and sleep with every girl who would have me, socially speaking from males to males, I'd be praised and looked at in a positive light.

If I was a girl and pursued the same thing, I'd be condemned by both sexes for being too open about sexuality. I'd be under sanction from society for the decisions I made.

Social norms dictate how people act and unless what they're doing is considered negative by either a large group of people or a few people who they have close associations with the person, they won't change.

In my opinion, most people don't change who they are or how they act unless there is a socially acceptable reason or sanction that causes them to do so.

Yes they can

yeahMURS-

That really depends on the person.

yeah they are

I actually had an argument with my friend about this the other day, but he's really hard headed and I clearly won. I started off talking about Nas stating that his new albums are awesome because they talk about many political events that happen in the world etc. My friend says political rap is [insert bad word here]. They have no idea of what they are talking about blah blah blah... He then goes to bring up Nas's first few songs on his first album and how some relate to killing and murder etc. so I explain that he's changed and his last 3-4 albums have had some what of a message in all of them. He tells me people don't change etc. I bring up a story about my mom changing, my dad changing and he himself somewhat changing, and then he gives a stupid reply saying he hasn't changed and he'd do all the stupid things he did when he was 12(he's 19) again. I left it like that because he wasn't going to win scone I've shown him many people who have changed and he wouldn't accept a fact. Story over.

To be honest though I think if you're old enough to realise a change is indeed needed it's usually very hard at an older age, but it's definitely possible especially if you take the time to think it out, organize a plan, set goals and go through with it.

House says no but I say yes.

Yes, I know I have.