Can people change? – MENAFN.COM

Can people change? – MENAFN.COM

(MENAFN - Gulf Times) That's the question behind the multibillion-dollar self-help industry, the proliferation of blogs and podcasts that promise to make you a better human, and the ubiquitous and vacuous 'inspo memes. It taps into a feeling that maybe we could be, should be, more than we are. Along with all the fluff and pseudoscience that has sprung up around that question, though, is some serious science about whether humans can transform themselves, and how. The recent debacles in Canberra have seen promises of personal reformation. Liberal National Party backbencher Andrew Laming is off to empathy lessons after he apologised for his treatment of women online, then scoffed at his own apology, before being accused of taking a picture of a bent-over woman. Nationals leader Michael McCormack reckons his mob should improve after sitting around listening to an expert for 'an hour or so. The idea of such easy penance has provoked some scepticism. A range of psychologists has warned against the idea of a 'quick fix, saying any such training needs to be voluntary, prolonged and intense. But what about the bigger question: is change possible? Raye Colbey says it is. When the Adelaide Hills woman heard about