Pros and Cons of being Malleable

Clay might be more related to the word malleable instead of metal. The word malleability is defined mostly as the property of metal to be shaped into the craftsman’s design.

The same word can be attributed to humans but has different meanings. Malleable (in human terms) can either mean being able to adapt to changes or the trait of being influenced easily. This paper discusses about the implications of being malleable as it relates to personality.

Pros of being Malleable

Charles Darwin should change his theory on evolution. Survival is not about who the strongest specie is, rather, survival is about who can adapt easily to changes in the environment. The positive side of being malleable means that a person can get through with any obstacle that he or she faces.

A malleable person can simply ‘contort’ his or her personality to suit the changes that happen in his or her life. Whatever these obstacles are, being malleable allows us to come up with different strategies on how we can cope with the changes. A malleable personality means that we are capable of dealing with difficult people or circumstances.

We may need to adjust to avoid conflict with other people. It does not necessarily mean that we have to change, remember, the definition of malleability is not to change entirely but to bend. Sometimes, people with culture alien from us become part of our lives, in work, school, or even in the family, anywhere in the society that has some sort of connection with us.

As a sign of respect, we may have to restrain ourselves from speaking out loud about certain practices that we might find weird or even wrong. This does not mean that we are changing for them. It just means that we are willing to tolerate (at a certain extent) unfamiliar customs. Being malleable would come in handy on travels abroad.

Another instance when being malleable might come in handy is during tough times, it may be financially or emotionally. During times of ‘financial drought’ learning how to adjust is vital. Cutting unnecessary expenses is one way of adjusting.

Old habits that use money need to be cut. In an emotional sense, adjusting to a new environment is also vital. An outsider has to learn the norms of the new environment if he or she is to move to that new environment. The outsider may have to overcome language barriers, and other aspects of culture.

Cons of Malleability

Virtually everything has cons, in this case, a negative definition. One definition of malleability is the trait of being controlled or influenced easily. This definition of malleability means that we let others control our decisions, and therefore our lives.

Some people are too malleable that they hardly make decisions on their own. They allow themselves to be the puppet of others, doing whatever the strings of the puppeteer tells them too. This negative definition of malleability makes a person loose his or her identity because what defines us are the decisions we make in our lives

Conclusion

Like most things, being malleable has its pros and cons. Being malleable can either mean we can adjust easily to life’s challenges or we let others decide for us. Adaptability is key in survival, those who can adapt the easiest survive. While being malleable means we can adjust to changes, it could also mean that we can easily be manipulated.

Reference

“malleable.” Online Etymology Dictionary. Douglas Harper, Historian. 10 Nov. 2008.

<Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/malleable>.