What defines our personality? Is it materialism?

[Guest]

Take a look at this:

Finger length ratio (2D:4D) is a sexually dimorphic trait. Men have relatively shorter second digits (index fingers) than fourth digits (ring fingers). Smaller, more masculine, digit ratios are thought to be associated with either higher prenatal testosterone levels or greater sensitivity to androgens, or both. Men with more masculine finger ratios are perceived as being more masculine and dominant by female observers, and tend to perform better in a number of physical sports. We hypothesized that digit ratio would correlate with propensity to engage in aggressive behavior. We examined the relationship between trait aggression, assayed using a questionnaire, and finger length ratio in both men and women. Men with lower, more masculine, finger length ratios had higher trait physical aggression scores (r(partial) = -0.21, N = 134, P = 0.028). We found no correlation between finger length ratio and any form of aggression in females. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that testosterone has an organizational effect on adult physical aggression in men.

This means that you cannot even influence wether you're aggressive or not. Why does God allow humans to be slaves of their bodies? This really sounds as if humans are controlled by hormones and nothing else. I also read that the exposure of testosterone in the womb affects the brain and wether you'll be intelligent or not so intelligent later on. This means that even before we are born there are so many things which are already determined which we cannot influence at all which will have a huge impact on our life, I think this sucks. When I imagine that I could be a totally different person with a different character if the hormones in the womb had been a bit different then this is a strange feeling, isn't it? How do we know wether our personality is from God or wether it's simply based on hormones and chemicals in the brain? I am a pretty sensitive person and I ask myself wether God made me this way or wether I'm only this way because of hormones in the womb. Maybe if my mother had had more testosterone in her womb then I would be different today, maybe more aggressive and not even receptive to God. Maybe I would be so confident and convinced of myself that I wouldn't even need God who knows. But since I'm rather sensitive and not so strong I need God. But then I ask myself what if everything had been different then maybe I wouldn't even have needed God. This makes everything look so random. What if I am only more sensitive because I don't have so much testosterone and if I had more testosterone I would be a totally different person? I have already thought about getting a hormone replacement therapy because my testosterone is pretty low but right now I'm concerned that this might change my whole personality. What if God wants me to be this way and getting testosterone replacement would change me completely? But on the other hand having low testosterone levels is not healthy at all and increases the risk of heart diseases and I am not keen on heart diseases. I don't know what to do now.

[Guest]

Ps 139:13-14
13 For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother's womb.
14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
NKJV

Hi Beaver,

Do you believe you are fearfully and wonderfully made by God?

What is more important to you, the health of your temporal tent or the health of your eternal soul?

I don't put much credence in studies like that myself.

Just something to think about.

Lord bless.

[Guest]

Hello Beaver,

That's an interesting study. I've never heard of that one before. Of course, I'm always dubious about placing too much stock in hypotheses based on studies, since later studies often refute the hypothesis. Such is the way of science.

I'm curious about some of the conclusions you reached. First off, you claim that, based on the hypothesis derived from the study, "you cannot even influence wether (sic) you're aggressive or not." Yet someone born with a genetic predisposition towards alcoholism can influence whether they drink or not. They may have to enact certain safeguards in their lifestyle and they may have more struggles in this area, but they are not a powerless slave. Likewise, if someone is born with a genetic predisposition towards aggression or depression or whatever, this does not make them a slave unless they choose to give control to these traits.
My family has a genetic predisposition towards being overweight (probably as a survival mechanism against harsh Northern European winters). I can either sit on the sofa, blame God and eat another Twinkie, or I can deal with it and work(out) to overcome it.

Where did you get the idea that God was obligated to give everyone an equal and blank slate at birth? Is this perhaps a presupposition that you're putting upon God? Go read Genesis 4; the story of Cain and Abel.
It appears that Cain had an anger/aggression problem. Perhaps he was born that way. Unfortunately we don't have any information about his digit ratios. God's advice to Cain is this:

Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.

So the issue isn't so much the cards we're dealt at birth, but how we play those cards.

I have to challenge your presuppositions here:

Maybe if my mother had had more testosterone in her womb then I would be different today, maybe more aggressive and not even receptive to God. Maybe I would be so confident and convinced of myself that I wouldn't even need God who knows. But since I'm rather sensitive and not so strong I need God.

There are so many things that strike me as wrong with this statement. I'll point out two of them:

First, you are equating aggressiveness with confidence. I've found that overly aggressive people are usually lacking in self-confidence and use aggression to compensate. Aggression of this sort is actually a profound weakness, not a strength.

Secondly, you seem to be setting an a priori value that being aware of one's need for God is a less-than-desirable thing. Yet if God is our creator who loves us and desires to have relationship with us, it would follow that we would find our purpose and fulfillment in knowing God. Therefore, being aware of one's need for God would be a very good thing. Being unaware of (or unwilling to admit) one's need for God would be the less-desirable option. In fact, it would be the self-destructive option.

I'll take sensitive, not so strong, and aware of my need for God any day.

This is by no means intended as medical advice, btw. If you and your doctor decide you need hormone replacement therapy for health reasons, you are already aware that the increased levels of testosterone could make you more aggressive, which means that you will need to be more dependant upon God to help you control your aggression.

[Guest]

hi beaver-

We'll be perfect in heaven, but unfortunately (or maybe fortunately-- God told Paul that He was strong in Paul's weakness) that is not the case now.

sometimes we just have to take a deep breath and resign ourselves to the way God made us and get on with it. God will help us, after all He knows how He made us! Dwelling too long on thoughts like those in your post may only drive you to despair. apart from biology, what about geography? what if i was born in sudan or rwanda?

I am reminded of the following passage: "There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” (Lk 13:1-5). the people that told Jesus about the atrocity that Pilate committed expected him to become indignant and flame up at Pilate. but no, Jesus flipped it back on them and reminded them of their need to repent, regardless of the hand they were dealt. bad things happen to people, to all of us. but we can't use this as an excuse for doing what God expects us to do.

TK

[Guest]

Hello, Beaver,

Thank you for your thought-provoking and vulnerable posting.

I think our consciousness rests in an electrochemical soup. When people have severe chemcial imbalances, they generally go off the deep end. And this is OK, because we are dust. God knows that, and he's OK with it too, because he chose to make us this way.

I do not think that God holds us accountable for instances when, despite our best efforts, our physical condition does not allow us to fulfill his hopes for human individuals. For example, he may expect every human to love their neighbor, but I think he makes allowances for a person in a coma. If our chemical imbalance pushes us to a point of insanity, then I think we are no longer accountable to God until we re-enter a state of sanity.

But otherwise, most of us have to wrestle with chemical makeups that seem less than optimal, at least at various times.

On the one hand, I think there is a spectrum within which we are fully capable of living out God's vision for humanity. I imagine he wanted some humans to be more aggressive, some more sensitive, etc. This is part of humans having different gifts, and not being fully independent, but humbly in need of others' help.

But beyond this, our chemical selves are only a part of our being. When we are sane, we also have the ability to develop mental discipline and self-awareness, so that we can compensate for our natural chemical tendencies.

So, it seems to me, we should try to celebrate the positive strengths of our natural (even chemical!) being, while trying to make the most of our potential to compensate for our weaknesses.

Shalom,
Emmet