As Within, So Without
Is the pious loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is loved by the gods? Socrates, Euthyphro
This is something of a realization I had a while back about human behaviour. It has to do with how one’s internalized worldview shapes one’s personality. This is in contrast to the general intuition that our personality determines how we see the world.
In the classic nature vs. nurture debate, it is well-understood that our environment plays an important role in shaping who we become. For example, someone with a traumatic childhood is likely to grow up to be a psychologically unhealthy person. This is nurture.
Now imagine two individuals who grow up in identical circumstances. They attend the same schools, have similar family structures, and experience comparable life events.
Yet, as adults, they grow up to be different people. Person A is trusting and generous while Person B is cynical and self-protective. This is nature.
The difference boils down to their internalized worldviews.
Person A, through his experiences and interpretations, has come to see the world as fundamentally benevolent. He believes that people are generally good and that kindness tends to be reciprocated.
Person B, on the other hand, has internalized a view of the world as hostile and unpredictable. He sees potential threats and betrayals lurking around every corner.
These worldviews, once established, act as self-fulfilling prophecies. Person A’s trust and openness invite positive interactions, reinforcing his belief in human goodness.
However, Person B’s suspicion and defensiveness elicit guarded responses from others, further feeding his pessimistic outlook. It’s a feedback loop, with each interaction serving as evidence for their pre-existing beliefs.
Neither of them is wrong, as they each only see a selected subset of reality, filtered through their own expectations and beliefs. However, their worldviews ultimately say a lot more about them than the world they inhabit.