They can.

When it comes from people changing from being dickheads, I think it can take some people rock bottom, or being confronted by a chad who they perceive as worthy of respect to change to change them.

My mom is/was a racist Trumper, until my chad uncle confronted her and told her she was being a dick. He told her that he wouldn’t continue to talk to her if she didn’t change.

She did take heed and ended up not voting for Trump in 2024.

Most people who are like my mom won’t listen to somebody like me. She sees me as not worth listening to because I’m not a man.

And this is why I think only a recovered narcissist male who has seen this happen in real time (and who is also a chad) will probably be successful as an opponent against Trump.

I’m worried the baby thinks people can’t change

Yep. I’ve changed.

I mean, I feel like their opinions and political beliefs can change. As for their personality and character flaws, I’m not so sure honestly

If you are asking if a racist can become less racist, yes, but only if they spend time around people of other races often (and is willing to be open minded)

I’ll tell you that, if I didn’t immigrate to the US, and I was in China, I’d probably be very xenophobia against non-Chinese people, due to the lack of exposure to other people.

So in this timeline, I’m a Social Democrat that is accepting of LGBT+ people and people of other races.

In the other timeline, the one in which I did not immigrate to the US, who knows, maybe I’d be some Han-Supremacist Chinese-Nationalist?

When I think about stuff like the multiverse and stuff, its kinda unsettlling how different the diverging timelines could be.

I mean, there are probably “racist” versions of yourselves in another timeline, just saying. 👀

Yep, but they have to want it and work at it for positive results in many cases. Negative change can happen pretty easily through unwelcome events. That’s my overly simplistic answer.

They can for sure.

It depends and I judge based on what a person has done.

Can a murderer change? Well, they’ve taken a life or maybe numerous lives so I place them on the irreversible pile. Those who can’t change because let’s say, they might’ve had multiple chances to change prior to murdering and they blew them all.

Can an addict change? Possibly, if they haven’t gone far deep into the addiction. There will always be some kind of change opportunity for them and they haven’t done irreparable damage yet.

You have to evaluate people by levels and where their stances are in life.

Aren’t all our cells replaced every seven years? So apart from inner change, depending on your view on Theseus’ Ship, you literally are a completely different person from seven years ago.

Only if they want to.

And that is a HUGE if. Most people after their formal education decide to stop learning. And learning is the most important form of change.

Can they change? Yes.

Do they change? Not often.

nope you’re predetermined to be exactly as you were when you were born

Depends.

If they can’t we’re definitely fucked so it’s better to assume yes.

I have no doubt it can be done. I’ve seen something along these lines for myself. Many people have begun their life with destructive ideas only to realize what was wrong and shake that off themselves, which one might say is natural as the seekers of insight we are. I’d be lying to say this didn’t describe me in a few ways, having thought in a more generalized, unthinking way in the past. Given enough time, it’s hard to imagine that not all of us would become Uncle Iroh.

We are given a glimpse of this in history; we see the likes of Hirohito going from warlike to a pacifist, General Butt Naked converting from a genocidal warlord to a preacher, Dr. Seuss once being Japanophobic before making amends, the great Confucius himself becoming who he was after being disillusioned with his position of power, and if you are of my religious group, God himself.