Can a person really change?
No, not through softening in some groups and being harsher in others. Not by changing on the outside. Not by becoming kinder. Or gentler. Or good.
But if one can change, then what would that entail?
Are all the negative qualities stripped away?
Or are they always lingering beneath the surface, dormant like coals ready to be rekindled?
I believe one of the scariest realizations that comes from being human is realizing that goodness isn’t necessarily inherent. Some individuals have to embrace it through choice, despite parts of themselves that they aren’t sure they can trust. We idolize innately good individuals because they make morality easy. However, at times I wonder if the individual that truly deserves to be idolized is the one who knows how ugly he can become but restrains himself from doing so anyway.
Not because he doesn’t have any darkness in him.
Because he understands that.
There is always a danger of regarding individuals according to how bad their thoughts are. Thoughts always spring up unexpectedly. Anger. Greed. Lust. Violence. Man is made up of desires that he would be ashamed to admit to others. If man were defined by his thoughts, then no one would be able to live with himself.
Maybe what really matters about man is not what comes into his head, but what he feeds. What he nourishes. What he makes real.
This doesn’t mean there are no repercussions. Individuals destroy one another all the time, and sometimes beyond repair. Redemption isn’t a kind of magic that can restore things that got broken. There will still be scars even after man has reformed.
But even now, I cannot believe that people are immutable forever.
For if nobody can change, then there is no point in resisting the urge to descend into evil.
And if goodness has any meaning only if it is easy, then freedom of choice has none.
And perhaps, this is the essence of humanity, that in us is the potential for evil and good alike, and every day, consciously or subconsciously, we choose which will prevail.
Remarkable remarks on the idea of choice. I'd have to sit with this more to truly understand Ur thoughts.