I've spent a lot of time thinking about perception and understanding, and I still can't say I'm totally sure. I am pretty certain that the passive thoughts that just pass though one's head do not reveal anything about their character (I take these to be the Id according to Freud). Since the sense of "person" is partially constructed from one's choices, then it seems that perhaps patterns might be important even if individual thoughts are not. That is, if you always find that your thoughts move toward violence, that could be significant. What is also pretty clear to me is the notion that one is a ___ person or type of person is fallacious. Any word that might fill in the blank cannot adequately sum up the real experience of being a person. To say that one is "good" or "happy" commits either a fallacy of equivocation (where unequal things are considered equal) or a fallacy of false dichotomy (to say that something is either this or that, when in reality it could be more), or both.
Do I think that having certain thoughts make you a certain kind of person? No, it's your decision to be that kind of person, which is shaped by your interpretation of what you perceive. Thoughts are merely one perception among many. However, just as the eye responds to light, thoughts do seem to have some basis, at least in an experiential way. As such, they may allow some insight into how your own mind works, and that might, in some way, constitute part of your "person." In the end, regardless of our thoughts, I believe that it's most accurate to simply say, "I am a person," or more simply, "I am."
Do your thoughts reveal anything about your person?
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I've spent a lot of time thinking about perception and understanding, and I still can't say I'm totally sure. I am pretty certain that the passive thoughts that just pass though one's head do not reveal anything about their character (I take these to be the Id according to Freud). Since the sense of "person" is partially constructed from one's choices, then it seems that perhaps patterns might be important even if individual thoughts are not. That is, if you always find that your thoughts move toward violence, that could be significant. What is also pretty clear to me is the notion that one is a ___ person or type of person is fallacious. Any word that might fill in the blank cannot adequately sum up the real experience of being a person. To say that one is "good" or "happy" commits either a fallacy of equivocation (where unequal things are considered equal) or a fallacy of false dichotomy (to say that something is either this or that, when in reality it could be more), or both.
Do I think that having certain thoughts make you a certain kind of person? No, it's your decision to be that kind of person, which is shaped by your interpretation of what you perceive. Thoughts are merely one perception among many. However, just as the eye responds to light, thoughts do seem to have some basis, at least in an experiential way. As such, they may allow some insight into how your own mind works, and that might, in some way, constitute part of your "person." In the end, regardless of our thoughts, I believe that it's most accurate to simply say, "I am a person," or more simply, "I am."
...Sorry for being a philosophy student...