Do People Change?

[MadMojoMonkey]

I didn't mean to imply that you never think critical of the advice you are given.

The above is how it's supposed to work, but the reality it isn't like that. Medicine and science have been politicized and social engineered.

One prime example is the FDA approved food pyramid and the untold amount of damage it has done to the american public.

Not for nothing, but I'm talking doctors who treat patients and their definition of what constitutes a human body (and not the tricky parts at the beginning and end, even), and you're talking about a regulating committee and their advice on nutrition.

On the subject of "Do people change?":
I'd say that physically, people change all the time.
Some physical changes result in emotional changes.
Some of those are reversible and others are not.
Some chemicals can cause physical changes, which may or may not be reversible.

Our life experiences alter who we are in an experiential way. Our ability to remember the past - but not the future - means that as we live longer, we have the capacity to have witnessed more. The accumulation of these experiences with a dash of intelligence amounts to most people's idea of wisdom. (Although this doesn't mesh at all with the D&D and general RP-world notion of wisdom being a character trait that is akin to intelligence.)

People change in the experiences they have. These changes can lead a person to make different choices.

However, I feel like we're really dodging the real bullet in the question.
Is a pedophile curable?
Will someone who has a certain deviant lust ever stop having that lust, through any means?
(I, for one, have never been exposed to compelling evidence of such.)

Will an alcoholic ever stop in their struggle to remain sober? Is the act of choosing to remain sober enough to constitute a change?

[Savy]

Will an alcoholic ever stop in their struggle to remain sober? Is the act of choosing to remain sober enough to constitute a change?

Is being sober actually the cure or is it just the most obvious way of dealing with a problem? Surely a real cure would allow people to use alcohol and not have a problem with it?

[spoonitnow]

Is being sober actually the cure or is it just the most obvious way of dealing with a problem? Surely a real cure would allow people to use alcohol and not have a problem with it?

Just want to throw in that some people believe any use of alcohol is a problem, so you have to decide what having a problem with it means too, etc.

[JKDS]

Is a pedophile curable?
Will someone who has a certain deviant lust ever stop having that lust, through any means?
(I, for one, have never been exposed to compelling evidence of such.)

Will an alcoholic ever stop in their struggle to remain sober? Is the act of choosing to remain sober enough to constitute a change?

This is the cool question, and one step further is the question "are genetics deterministic?" If there is a pedophile or alcoholism gene, are people with those genes destined to be pedophiles and alcoholics? I dont think the scientific community has found an answer yet, though this question has generated a lot of debate and research over the years (included questions over a potential 'gay gene').

If there is such a gene that predetermines such things, are there other genes or bodily chemical reactions that could override those genes? Does gene A have any effect on a theoretical alcoholism gene? If a bodily chemical reaction has an effect, could we take or eat something to cause that reaction and combat the gene?

If we're just talking about moral change though, if someone can change the way they think about the world and how they interpret events, of course they change. Its regularly the case that people change opinions over time whether you're talking about maturity as kids grow older, political views as young liberals turn into old conservatives, or the deeply religious turning away from god after life-altering events. People regularly go from being indifferent towards x, to loving or hating x.

If its physical change, then that depends on definitions. I cant make myself taller, but i could make myself fatter. Then i could get surgery to reshape my eyes to see better. This question seems less interesting.

Idk, im with MMM. The question is far too broad and illdefined.