Are we the sum of our experiences?

by **gurlbidesign** » October 15th, 2005, 7:30 am

I thought this waa a no brainer, but I met somebody last night who denied it completely. Is it possible to turn your back on 20, 30, even 50 years of life when starting over and believe that the past had no bearing on who you are today?

by **goldragon_70** » October 15th, 2005, 8:10 am

It is possible to believe that, but unless you really do become an infant again, there is no way that your life has not taught you about what you know how to do now.

by **Mallic** » October 15th, 2005, 8:12 am

It depends. You pick up on everything, you note every mistake you (somebody else) makes and you will be the the sum of your parts. Most don't do this.

Take that how you will...

by **missypuss** » October 15th, 2005, 9:47 am

Never look back.....
Live,
Experience,
Learn,
Make Mistakes,
Learn from them,
But keep walking forward not backwards...... :wink:

by **gurlbidesign** » October 15th, 2005, 9:49 am

Mallic wrote:It depends. You pick up on everything, you note every mistake you (somebody else) makes and you will be the the sum of your parts. Most don't do this.

Take that how you will...

But even if you succeed in denying (not picking up) those mistakes, doesn't that in itself make you who you are? How can anyone claim that their past has no beaing on them?

by **Mallic** » October 15th, 2005, 9:51 am

Could someone move this thread to the philosiphy forum?

by **gurlbidesign** » October 15th, 2005, 10:39 am

Mallic wrote:Could someone move this thread to the philosiphy forum?

ok, go there and wait............

by **missypuss** » October 15th, 2005, 10:45 am

I didnt say it didnt have any bearing on who u are...Girlbidesign.It just makes more sense to accept that who u were is the reason u are who u are and look forwards not backwards.. Otherwise its like a record getting stuck, repeatedly going over the same scratchy sentence again and again....
Tell your story, Live your story, Celebrate your story, Just dont get stuck on your story.Is all I guess I meant really!!

by **gurlbidesign** » October 15th, 2005, 10:47 am

Ok, that I understand and support 100%. I guess I just couldn't grasp a refusal to acknowledge ones own personnal history having a bearing on the person we are.

by **missypuss** » October 15th, 2005, 10:59 am

Cool. Glad we agree.. We are who we are cos of who we were,and who we become tomorrow always depends on what happened to us today.. Its just that morose stuckness i guess i was getting at.. and i know its not easy to sometimes unstick yourself.. It took me a bloody long time.. But i am pleased with the results...Altho sometimes i have to give myself a good shake cos i know i am getting stuck again..thats life i guess!!

by **gurlbidesign** » October 15th, 2005, 11:10 am

Yes, I agree. This came up in a gender center meeting last night and another trans girl steadfastly refused to acknowledge that any of her past "male" life had shaped her in anyway. In my case there are 50 years of life that doesn't just get swept under the rug now that I have come to grips with who I really am. That old life doesn't need to be wallowed in, just accepted and cherished for helping me to become who I am today.

by **missypuss** » October 15th, 2005, 11:15 am

And thats all we can do really isnt it, celebrate the past.. no matter what a load of crap we feel it was, and acknowledge its made us into( hopefully) the great big strong person we are today or if we dont feel so strong yet we acknowledge the past , try to learn , and try to live , at least a tiny bit , just as much as we can for now..?

by **gurlbidesign** » October 15th, 2005, 11:19 am

"We live and learn, or we don't live long." Robert A. Heinlein
:)

by **gurlbidesign** » October 15th, 2005, 11:21 am

gurlbidesign wrote:"We live and learn, or we don't live long." Robert A. Heinlein
:)

Oh sorry Mallic, I guess I should have pidgeon holed this one into the quotation thread.

by **missypuss** » October 15th, 2005, 11:22 am

:) True..xx

by **gurlbidesign** » October 15th, 2005, 11:44 am

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this missypuss.

by **sandy82** » October 15th, 2005, 12:14 pm

GBD, your idea is correct. We are the sum of our experiences.

On reflection, I would phrase the point slightly differently. We are the sub-total of our experiences.

There are additional things that make us who we are--genetic predispositions, for one. Other additional factors can be disputed, and are. The influence of a higher being or fate or whatever.

The whole is the sum of its parts. We are the sum of our experiences plus at least a few other parts. Just as a hypothetical 100 is the sum of 98 (all our experiences) plus 2 (other factors, some known and perhaps some others unknown).

But certainly your underlying thoughts are right on the mark. Anyone who thinks they can ditch decades of past experience is fooling themselves.

It's interesting how these threads can intermesh. You and I have taken part in a thread where a participant offered the proposition that people [tend to] believe what they want to believe. You ran up against that phenomenon in the conversation you described.
.

by **gurlbidesign** » October 15th, 2005, 1:15 pm

Being firmly in the Nature, not Nurture camp myself I will happily concede your point. It was never my intention to assert that it was all past experience that made us who we are, only that it had a distinct bearing on us.

Are we the sum of our experiences?

Are we the sum of our experiences?

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