Research indicates that the characteristics we are born with have much more influence on our personality and development than any experiences we may have in our life.
Which do you consider to be the major influence?
As we all know, every human being is different from each other, no matter in the appearance or the personality, which makes every one unique. However, there has been an intense debate about whether our personalities and developments are more related to the characteristics we are born with than any events we might have encountered throughout our lives. In my very own opinion, I tend to agree with the thought of that we can change our personalities as we come across different episodes in our daily lives.
There is no doubt that we will face a variety of situations either joyful or sad during our more than ordinary lives. For example, for a student who does not do well on his exams at school, achieving goals other than academic subjects such as partaking in sports may help them in gaining back and building their confidence. On the contrary, it is inevitable that we will encounter unpleasant episodes as we grow, and difficult decisions have to be made to help us go through such hard times. Therefore, the outcomes of these choices will certainly affect our thinking of certain aspects, and sometimes even change our attitude toward particular events.
Thus, I cannot deny the fact that the characteristics we are born with are also responsible for many of our actions and thoughts to become. We can always hear from mothers who describe their children as very fond of laughing or like to cry a lot. These natural acts of expressed feelings are what we truly feel and react in the first place and did not learn from other people.
To conclude, I personally support the fact that experiences we may have in our lives influence us much more than the born characteristic, but the importance of how both factors are capable of affecting our personalities and how we will develop in the future cannot be neglected.
TOEFL listening lectures: The professor mentions watermelons as an example of what?