How does our identity develop? How much is of our own making, and how much is at the hands of outside forces? And is there any way to distinguish between the two? How are we each set on our path?

How do you objectively map a person? Create a ‘field guide’ to Becky or Tim or whomever? There’s the obvious mapping tools – genetics, on the purely physiological level; Myers-Briggs, as a psychological assessment; so many other small markers we are held up against throughout our lives, even growth charts, to gauge what percentile we fit into among the general public. But in what ways can we look back (and forward), take a person into consideration, and see how they got to this point, see what direction it looks likely that they will head?

This feels stupid and pedestrian, yet so strongly impacts my thought processes and how I view so many aspects of the world. How do I ask the right questions? And maybe become a little more eloquent in the process?