I agree that in practical terms you are probably correct that things like acquiring the character trait of perseverance will work.
My only objection was that the way you phrased it, you seemed to leave no room for the possibility of something different happening. Perhaps your theory is airtight enough to do so; but I am curious what you would think if someone came to you and convinced you that they had tried to acquire a character trait in this way and failed.
Perhaps your theory is airtight enough to do so; but I am curious what you would think if someone came to you and convinced you that they had tried to acquire a character trait in this way and failed.
I would say “really? you’re not at all better at perseverence than when you started? Not even a tiny bit?” And maybe they wouldn’t be, but in that case my theory would be wrong. It seems to me that it would be very hard not to change in a permanent way after following a new habit for a year.
I agree that in practical terms you are probably correct that things like acquiring the character trait of perseverance will work.
My only objection was that the way you phrased it, you seemed to leave no room for the possibility of something different happening. Perhaps your theory is airtight enough to do so; but I am curious what you would think if someone came to you and convinced you that they had tried to acquire a character trait in this way and failed.
I would say “really? you’re not at all better at perseverence than when you started? Not even a tiny bit?” And maybe they wouldn’t be, but in that case my theory would be wrong. It seems to me that it would be very hard not to change in a permanent way after following a new habit for a year.
Okay; I accept that you are confident enough to be extremely surprised at an exception to your theory.
So long as you are explicitly endorsing that high level of confidence, which seems reasonable but is also I think worth noticing.