There is one thing I really don't like about myself.
I mean, there are several, but I'm only going to tell you about this one right now.
It can be the most beautiful day, like springtime, cherry blossoms, every direction you look,
and immediately, instinctively, my mind will scan for the one thing wrong.
Like, gross, there's pollen all over that car.
I have definitely tried over the years to do this or that to counteract it.
cultivate a more positive mindset or start my day by saying three things I'm grateful for.
But I think there's just a part of me that thinks, well, that's just how Hannah is.
Like, there's some core of Hannah Rosen,
whether it's genetic or epigenetic or learned, that will always scan for the negative.
I'm Hannah Rosen.
This is Radio Atlantic.
And today, we're talking about personality.
What it is.
and whether it's something you can actually change.
So many decades ago,
William James did come up with this theory that personality is sort of set like plaster at age 30,
and it never softens again after age 30.
That's staff writer Olga Hazan,
and the William James she's talking about is considered the father of American psychology.