What makes a man?

My online friend and I (don�t ask which one, I�m trying to tell a story here) were discussing what makes a personality. I am of the opinion that up to a certain point in your life, that point where you suddenly twig that you are a singular and separate person and responsible for the outcomes of your choices (which occurs for different people at different times and for some never), you are a product of your genetics and your environment. Depending on how well you have been nurtured and educated, and if you have been taught responsibility along with your table manners and washing your hands after you use the toilet, then you are more likely to reach that self-awareness stage sooner and start directing your own development. People who have been damaged somehow, whether through psychological or physical abuse or neglect, may never understand that their fate is in their own hands. These people may always feel that the world �owes� them something, or that whatever happens is predetermined and there is no use trying to make things better or even different.

My friend begs to differ. He does not feel himself to be a product of his environment, but thinks that he is solely responsible for himself and his views on the world and that the �soul� of a man is transcendent, is not limited by the physical body and the confines of society and the dictates of ethicists. Actually, we never did get to finish our conversation since I had to go, but we�ve had similar talks in the past, and they always head in the same direction. He does not agree with my more �scientific� approach, and I am disinclined to his more �spiritual� view. Somewhere there must be a happy meeting place.

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