Originally Posted by
wobblyoldgeezer
... no straight line of causation is suggested. ....
I quite agree with that... It is seldom one isolated thing that sets a person's wants and needs and direction.
But, that being said, losing my dad to an unexpected heart attack when I was 15 certainly changed my wants, needs and direction. Suddenly I was torn from my nice comfortable, cozy little life into one where I realized I would have to fend for myself...
I can safely say I am a very different person for that experience...
But, at the same time -- it was not simply losing my dad that changed things. Rather, his passing threw me into an entirely different set of circumstances to which I needed to respond. And, the response was not a simple list of tasks. I was profoundly changed by those circumstances.
Originally Posted by
wobblyoldgeezer
'Some high achievers are so fixated on finding a shortcut to the goal that they might not be too particular about the means they use to achieve it'
But, at the same time, I DO NOT agree that a propensity to cheat always accompanies a high degree of desire to achieve.
Again, we are shaped by circumstances and, if you live in a culture where cheating is accepted and common, you will be more likely to cheat -- regardless of your desire to achieve.