pothos.org

Hi all, looking at our new question on alexander today got me thinking. What caused Alexander to be the great man, and conquorer he turned out to be, was it his genes or environment? I'm sure some would say of course both. Then lets change it a bit supposed his father Philip was merely a captian in the Macedonian army and Mom a house wife, what then? Would he have become this world class commander at all, remember this would exclude Aritotle too! This would add the problem of taking control of the army not as a the former King's son but, by coup! So then genes or environment?

I think genes are just part of the environment. It is the soul that rules both the genes and the environment. Aristotle went on and on about the soul, and his work "On the Soul" still survives, for anyone interested. I think Alexander would have chosen who his mother and father would be from "the other side."
John

hi john, very well put, and I too believe that our soul chooses its fate.
George

Agreed. And the nature of reincarnation- and its purpose- is such that
Alexander would not repeat the same life. Parents, environment, gender,
place of origin, financial staus, social standing etc would be determined by what lesson was to be learned, what was to be experienced and for what purpose..reincarnation
is complex. So he could be anything from a prince to a pauper. That is what makes
some of the speculative fiction about Alexander in a future interesting.. of course, good writing helps!
Regards,
Sikander

It's the eternal question if someone is "born" or "made"!
Personally I think it's a combination of both... and tend to give more weight to the second.
Regards,
Yiannis

To what extent did the Macedonian Army adopt a promotion by merit system? Most of the 'officers' seemed to be of noble birth. If merit played a large part then I'm sure Alexander would have risen through the ranks.
With regard to the Genes vs environment question, has anyone seen those studies of identical twins separated at birth and yet leading strangely similar lives!? It may yet be all in the genes!
P.S.
I've always liked the definition of 'genius' as-
"seeing what everyone else has seen, and thinking what no one else has thought"
Regards,
Kit.

hi all , if indeed we have a choice to pick who and what we might be in a reincarnation senario...then was Alexander's pick as king of the world an easy one? Or one that stressed and caused great sacrifice, for him. Then if he willingly made that pick, to be wounded 23 times, suffer unimageable hardships, indure great personal losses, and to die so young, so we can learn and wonder about such a super hero, his great and noble deeds, and the unheard of idea of brotherhood in one world, then truly he should be known as "Great". A pick I don't think my soul is ready for yet , maybe next time.
regards,
george

Greetings George- I have to veer from this as it is off topic, but
it might help to understand that it is not a matter of choosing who
and what you will be, but what you will learn.. quite a different thing!
Regards,
Sikander

I checked those studies out, they were performed at the University of Minnesota...and sadly were later found to be greatly flawed. Many of the twins involved in the study were coaxed and prodded by the interviewers to give answers that the interviewers wanted. But, some of the similarities were uncanny, and compelling...just the same...later Nicator
p.s. That same school has a wing named after Gustav Adolphus of Sweden and 30 years war fame...he was the 1st to institute public education for children...not to mention a revolutionary military genious, truly 1st class on the field as well as off.