Who am I?

Can we really say that we are the product of our life experiences, good and bad? Do they all add up and contribute to make us who we are in an uninterrupted process? This, apparently, is a widely debated concept in philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience. While admitting some truth to it, many dispute that assertion. 

I am of the opinion that we’re mostly the reflection of “our experiences”, having lived for extended periods of times in various geographic, cultural and professional environments (France, Germany, Australia, Italy and now America), I believe that our brains physically rewire based on experiences. Traumas, joys, habits, and relationships literally transform neural pathways as many studies on PTSD or meditation have shown. 

We also learn through conditioning, like with rewards and punishments. Our knowledge is also built cumulatively through experiences and our early relationships are defining our emotional templates for life. Further, we build our identity by weaving experiences into a personal "story" like Sartre has long argued. For instance, a failure might become a "turning point" or "proof I’m a loser," depending on how we narrate it. 

Sure, our genetics play a role as our temperament, predispositions, and talents are biologically influenced, but in my view it remains an “identity core” around which experiences build up, like barnacles accumulate on a sunk ship. I also agree that not all experiences are created equal, as a trauma during childhood often has more impact than as an adult. 

Likewise, a single chance event, like meeting a mentor, can alter one’s path disproportionately and the exact same experience will affect people vastly differently. Perhaps it would be good to say that “we’re the artisans of our experience but also the clay that produces it”, implying less passivity as well as less fatality. 

Still, I remain convinced that we’re deeply shaped by our experiences, but agree that it’s not the sole influence that impacts us, albeit at different degrees depending on the personalities. The interplay of nature, nurture, and agency creates a dynamic self, always in flux, a real “work in progress!”