Inherently

I used to find the whole "inherent" view of people's action offensive. In a way I still do. It has an assumption of limits attached to it, which is just plain wrong when we are looking at real people and their potential. You are not confined to the parameters of what your ancestors were like. Even if they were uneducated, that does not mean that you can't learn. Your father's temper is no excuse for your flying off the handle. You catch my drift.

But as I get older—I can say that now that I am a father—I am becoming less adamant about it. Actually, I am becoming less adamant about a lot of things. Where I used to see clear lines, pitch black and bright white, I now see muddled borders and shades of gray. Maybe I just need new glasses.

What set this off is "Millions". One of those little gems of movies that tend to slip by without you noticing them. It features two brothers. One of them does inherently good. His compass does not waver.

I wish for my daughter to be that way, when she grows up. Isn't that a hoot? Instead of translating the moral of the story onto my life, I instinctly think about it in reference to hers.

Continuation of the species, I guess. Inherent thinking.