I agree with the point that we are not driven by immutable instincts. I believe that every human makes different decisions among their underlying personalities, or peer pressure.
I am, for example, mostly driven by peer pressure. A term ago, I met a classmate who studies a lot and prepare classes all the time. I have hung out with him throughout last summer term. Before meeting him, I was more like a “bad” student: I skipped classes often when I did not want to, and I was a last minute person when the deadline came really close to the end. He taught me how to prepare for classes and motivated me to study by practicing what a “good” student is supposed to do. Before meeting him or becoming a “good” student, my instinct was more like towards having fun rather than being a student, and I was driven by my immutable instincts that follows easy way. Being influenced by peer pressure from my classmate, I made a different decision from my immutable instinct.
I also make a decision based on my underlying personality rather than my instinct. My personality is mostly cultured. To be specific, I am from South Korea where Confucianism is based or dominated. I have been taught that being humble is always good to be. Thus, I always try to be humble at all time. Whenever I have conversation with my parents, they sometimes tell me what I already know such as “clean your room”. If I follow my instinct in this situation which is to talk back to them, argument would begin. Thus, I rather become humble to them and say nothing to them. Being driven by my underlying personality, I could step away from arguing with my parents.
In conclusion, I am totally favor of the point that we are not driven by immutable instincts but rather we are driven by underlying personalities, or peer pressure. Humans are thinking animals which means that human can control themselves and regulate their instincts. If humans are driven by immutable instincts, there would be no difference between humans and animals.
I concur with your statement that values are freely chosen within ourselves and are not a genetic disposition. However, your example about how your values have been greatly influenced and shaped by your mother show that although the values that we choose throughout our lives are strictly up to ourselves, the people and the culture that we are surrounded by have a large stake in the way we choose and view the values that we want to uphold. It’s nice to see that others such as yourself have been greatly influenced by their family, particularly their mothers. As I read this week’s reading, my mother immediately popped in my head when it was discussing whether or not values are chosen freely or not. One specific quote that relates to how your family has influenced your values was “although the term values is often used loosely, it should be synonymous with personal evaluations and related beliefs” (Lewis 7). Related beliefs are stemmed directly from the people that we surround ourselves with. Since our family and our parents in particular establish our core beliefs as children, it’s no wonder that close people in your life such as your mother have influenced your values greatly.
Yes, my steps to evaluate and define values are mostly driven or influenced by my parents and my culture. When humans are born, they are raised by their parents. All the babies see are what their parents do. Growing up with seeing what their parents do, babies set their invisible norm or standards inside of their mind. Parents are the closest humans that surrounds babies. You said that “Related beliefs are stemmed directly from the people that we surround ourselves with.” That is, the people that we surround ourselves with are the parents. Based on the related beliefs from the parents, personal evaluation of individual can be different because every single individual has built their invisible norm or standards differently among their surrounding people. This can be evidence of the statement “although the term values is often used loosely, it should be synonymous with personal evaluations and related beliefs” (Lewis 7).