True About People

Throughout my experiences in life I have come to a large number of conclusions about people and society in general.

First I would say that all people are flawed in some way, which is pretty important to realize. I strongly accept that all people make mistakes, and that this is a major component of being human. Many, even most people are flawed so deeply that they at some point in their life, probably many points, will make a decision they know to be wrong, and harmful towards their own well being or happiness.

I believe that all people are unique, that is, we are all different in our flaws and strengths. These differences in character are the true way people should be judged and weighed, not in physical differences. There are so many different ways to be flawed and gifted that it isn't hard to believe that people, like snowflakes, are never exactly the same. Most of the conclusions I draw about people are very general and apply to all people or all of society, but people do vary so much that I must accept that my thoughts are probably not constant for all people.

I do not believe that people are born as bad people or good people. I cannot believe that any person's future personality is predetermined; rather I think the circumstances and effectors of a person's life do the most to determine whom they become. I also believe that people can create themselves after a certain point. At least by my age teenagers have enough control over their thoughts and minds to greatly alter who they are and who they want to be, though they must want the change.

Next I believe that people do not come into this world skeptical, but very gullible, and should be taught to be analytical and to some extent, distrusting. This is especially important in recent years with an increasingly 1984-esque administration and the decline of journalistic integrity. I think educated people are coherent enough to make rational decisions if they were fairly and evenly given information concerning politics for example, or if they were skeptical of the information they received.

I think people are extremely fearful. People fear for their families, their money, their friends, their countrymen, and themselves. People, as adults, tend to fear what they don't understand, and would rather hold onto their false beliefs rather than learn to understand what they do not. I believe fear and ignorance is what causes racism, sexism, and homophobia. This has convinced me that once gay and lesbian people are understood to be just like any other person that their rights will be preserved and they will not be discriminated against. Fear can be used to manipulate people, to scare them into a certain method of thinking, and I would argue that the 2004 presidential election is an example of fear mongering used to change public opinion.

People, as adults, tend to be very set in their opinions, and those who are open-minded enough to honestly hear out another argument or opinion deserve praise.

I believe that education based on science is extremely important to the advancement of the intelligence of people and society. I think education is so important largely because I am somewhat convinced nurture is more important to the creation of a person than nature. Science also teaches a progressive and dynamic way of thinking that allows for the correction of disproved theories previously thought to be true. This again revisits the idea that people should be open-minded enough to accept that they have previously been incorrect, or at least to be open to an opinion stating they are incorrect.

Individuals are about as happy as they set out to be. As Hamlet said, "Nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so". I agree, and believe that a truly optimistic