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Mar. 4th, 2005 11:23 amWhat makes someone mean? What makes someone nice?
I was wondering if was the influence of my parents, that makes me compassionate? Or if it stems from someone begin mean to me, that makes me want to be nicer to people, so that I don't inflict the bad feelings that I felt, onto some other unsuspecting person?
Sometimes people become bitter and hardened instead, by the bad things that life throws at them, and they take it out on other people, as if somehow that proves something; or perhaps without their realizing it - they rationalize it down to their expressing their opinion, or the oft-used "Lighten up, it's just a joke."
Is meanness or niceness inherent in someone's personality, determined by their genetics? Or is it determined by their life experiences?
I used to work with these people who joked in an unsavoury manner about women, starting with the Sunshine girl, and the only time they became more compassionate was when they were discussing the abuse of kids at Maple Leaf Gardens; this was some years ago. I guess that was finally something they could relate to. I guess you have to relate to someone's situation before you can feel compassion for them. Of course I can't relate to these work people, so I am spilling their dirt.
I was wondering if was the influence of my parents, that makes me compassionate? Or if it stems from someone begin mean to me, that makes me want to be nicer to people, so that I don't inflict the bad feelings that I felt, onto some other unsuspecting person?
Sometimes people become bitter and hardened instead, by the bad things that life throws at them, and they take it out on other people, as if somehow that proves something; or perhaps without their realizing it - they rationalize it down to their expressing their opinion, or the oft-used "Lighten up, it's just a joke."
Is meanness or niceness inherent in someone's personality, determined by their genetics? Or is it determined by their life experiences?
I used to work with these people who joked in an unsavoury manner about women, starting with the Sunshine girl, and the only time they became more compassionate was when they were discussing the abuse of kids at Maple Leaf Gardens; this was some years ago. I guess that was finally something they could relate to. I guess you have to relate to someone's situation before you can feel compassion for them. Of course I can't relate to these work people, so I am spilling their dirt.
