Character- nature or nurture?

"Character, then, isn't what we think it is or, rather, what we want it to be. It isn't a stable, easily identifiable set of closely related traits, and it only seems that way because of a glitch in the way our brains are organized. Character is more like a bundle of habits and tendencies and interests, loosely bound together and dependent, at certain times, on circumstance and context. The reason that most of us seem to have a consistent character is that most of us are really good at controlling our environment."

"When we observe a woman who seems hostile and fiercely independent some of the time but passive, dependent and feminine on other occasions, our reducing valve usually makes us choose between the two syndromes. We decide that one pattern is in the service of the other, or that both are in the service of a third motive. She must be a really castrating lady with a facade of passivity- or perhaps she is a warm, passive dependent woman with a surface defence of aggressiveness. But perhaps nature is bigger than our concepts and it is possible for the lady to be a hostile, fiercely independent, passive, dependent, feminine, aggressive, warm, castrating person all in one. Of course which of these she is ay any particular moment would not be random or capricious, it would depend on who she is with, when how, and much, much more. But each of these aspects of her self may be a quite genuine and real aspect of her total being."

Taken from The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

Did that solve the doubts you had about yourself?

It sure did for me.

Often, I find myself wondering, "What kind of person am I?" because I realise I act differently around different people. "Which one is the 'real' me?" I find myself asking that ever so often.

And now I realise those are all me.

I am quiet, loud, lazy,energetic, calm, hysteric, optimistic, cynical, generous, selfish... yes I am, and have been all of the above.

Then comes the question- which ones am I most comfortable being?

I attended a personality workshop two months ago and found out that we possess a 'dominant' personality type. I am an INFJ. This is how I perceive myself and my most comfortable/natural state of being. [That being said, I have reservations when it comes to labeling people into 'types', as if you can divide humanity into 16 groups and that is it. I am sure it isn't the case and definitely not the intention of the test. I am digressing already...]

Let's say you are right-handed and now I'm asking you to sign with your left hand. Can you do it? Sure you can. Never mind the signature looking childish. More importantly, how did you feel when you had to switch your orientation? Unnatural? I would guess so. But that does not mean you cannot sign with your left hand.

This led me to think about nature v.s nurture.

How much of our personality is inborn and how much is influenced by the environment we live in?

I acknowledge that it's probably a mixture of both, but which plays a bigger part?

I recently came across a book titled 'The Geography of Thought' and its aim was to explain how and why asians and westerners think differently. I haven't gotten a chance to read it but I'm sure it will offer some very interesting insights into the role our culture and environment play in shaping our thoughts and behaviour.

There is just so much to learn and explore! This post probably hasn't been very structured and that is a clear reflection of the state of my mind at this very moment. I will probably come back and edit this once I get things into perspective. Until then- this it it.