Is toxicity transferable? Does it run through the veins of those it poisons, to be then passed on to their children?
Or, is it just a case of toxicity being contagious? One person is patient zero, then it spreads to whom ever they come into contact with?
Or, can the same argument be said for it, as the old nature vs. nurture debate? Is it the environment that surrounds them, or how they were raised?
Or, is it everything and none of it? Bits and pieces of all of us soaked in it, choosing whether or not to let it define us?
Maybe it’s all of them. Who really knows, except toxicity itself?
4 comments
I think it’s a lot of both nature & nurture. But mostly it’s learned (nurture).
Like every other disease, we are genetically predisposed, but we don’t actually catch it unless we indulge in behaviour that makes it happen. Example, if your family has a history of lung cancer you’ll be at risk but if you stay away from cigarettes, air pollution and unhealthy living, you’ll probably be ok.
Now if you come from a toxic gene pool, people who have a history of short tempers, anger and hate, then guess what, you’re at risk also. But you don’t actually “catch” it until you allow yourself to fall into their behavioural patterns.
Some of us start out with a handicap in life, but I think it’s ultimately our fault if we let it define us. Toxic people deserve their toxicity, no excuses.
Very true, and very well said.
What is toxicity, and if such a thing exists within human psychology, does that imply it has an opposite – I.E. being entirely positive-minded or some such thing?
I’m personally not sure it even exists. I think it’s a term people have coined to demonize a subset of the population who are dissatisfied with the material conditions, or the social reality surrounding them. Maybe the economic system, or the political system, or just the social web they’re woven into. Maybe their families – some of those problems are not only intractable, but also fundamentally impossible to change as an atomized individual. You could perhaps accept it and find a way to cope, but what if the consequences of doing so is morally or ethically worse to the person than living in a state of constant discontent? I dunno. The world is a complicated place.
Also very true, and again, well written.