You do not have control over your on life

The mistake that you are making with this debate, sir, is that you are assuming that genetics and environmental conditions pre-dispose our entire lives to the point that it is manipulative. Manipultive being that we think we have control over our lives but are really being tricked. It is very true that these factors have an influence on our lives but it is by no means true that they DICTATE our lives in the sense that they are in complete control. My genetic makeup may make m passive, agrressive, motivated, paranoid, or posses a multitude of various or single mental disorders. The environmental factors that control our lives such as how we were raised, schooling, friends, media we watch, also effect the way that we think. Do not however, think that because we posses those characteristics that they indeed control us. What does having control over one's life mean? My opponent, not having defined what "control" is, gives me permission to do it instead. It means that we are able to dictate within a reasonable fashion, (i.e. natural disasters and other random occurances out of our control excluded) everything that we do, that we say, and that we think. I would be able to control my life if I was able to respond to a given scenario or take up a particular hobby or action with a method of my own choosing. If i were not to have control over my own life, then I would lack that ability, I would not have the control over my own life to make my own decisions. My opponent claims that we don't have that control over our lives and that it is our genetic makeup and our environmental surroundings that tell is what to do. My opponent however is misled as to the extent of what these factors really contribute. My genetic makeup which makes up my phenotype of hair color, eye color, skin color, size of nose, ears, etc... also makes up my genotype. My genotype being what you can't see, or my personality. I have already explained that my genetic makeup is what would make me motivated or slow to think. What i have explained however are not controlling factors but INFLUENTIAL factors. Not only are these factors influential, but they are what help us to control our lives if fostered correctly. I am a happy and optimistic individual who enjoys living his life to the fullest. I also can sometimes be quick to anger and short temper. Everyone wants to enjoy their lives to the fullest, I beleive that is a given fact that no one is really going to deny. With that, people will try and make the best decisions that they canto achieve what they perceive as the best possible way in achieving that goal. Let's examine me being happy. Me being happy doesn't AUTOMATICALLY dictate that I will do things that will lead to happiness. My happiness and optimism are contributing factors. When something happens that may not be the most oppurtune, I at least am thankful for still being where I am and able to enjoy my life. For example, say I were to have a picnic with a bunch of my friends outside on this beautiful big apple tree. We were looking forward to this for months on end. However it starts to rain, a downpour even. There is no way that we can go and eat outside anymore. I can now do one of two things. I can mentally sulk about it and carry that through in my actions of not enjoying the picnic we have to have indoors, or worst off, not even go. I can also choose to still be happy that I am with all of my friends, and that we are getting to spend time together and enjoy a delicious lunch. That is simply one of many thought examples that one can think of that show that we do have control over our lives and how we choose to percieve them as well. There are other things like physical annomolies, maybe an amputation after an accident, being born with certain diseases or things of the sort. One may point out that those and even the thought example that I gave is the result of an environmental condition. That is true as well, however that falls in line with what i was aying about genetic factors being influential. How I am treated will pre-dispose me to act and think a certain way, but by no means determine that action. If you take 10 different people and they have gone through the same exact trials and tribulations, and were forced with the same decision, they won't all do the same thing. Why is that? Because they can choose. One may be tending to lean to one side, but they still have choice. It just happens that what happens in our lives can either help us live towards that goal of happiness or restrict us. There was as study done that I read about in my psychology class this past summer. They were studying optimism and pessimism. All the kids picked out through a set of choices, what their favorite dessert was, and then their second choice. They were then told that they were going to get their second choice instead of the first choice. Most of the kids then, who were optimistic, found things in the other dessert that they loved and were building up the one they had to eat. The pessimists, when faced with their second choice, would not receive it with much enthusiasm, and would in fact put down the other dessert trying not to make it seem as good. Another test was done with the same conditions and different people with college students where optimists were more excited about college choices as pessimists weren't, and optimists were also very happy to get into their second choice while pessimists were not. Pessimists even went as far as to say that any college that accepted them, must not be that good because they settled for a bad student. What does all this prove? If you noticed, in all of those cases, only a majority of students felt that way. Not all of them. If it were true that our genetic and environmental factors forced us to make decisions, than there wouldn't have been as much or any discrepencies at all. Ladies and Gentleman, you all beleive you have control in your lives, and that is because you really do. My opponent says that I had no choice but to accept this debate because of my encironmental conditions. I tell him that I could have easily not given his debate a second thought. I was influenced however by who i am to take up such endeavors but by no means was I not conciously unaware of what I was doing or my choice to wait for something else to strike my fancy Thank you very much for your time, -Mitchell Paglia