I think that we're getting a little off track here. Up to this point we have been discussing (I think) change in personality. My point was that it is a persons experience with and reaction to a variety of stimuli that leads to personality change. Nothing was said about the quality of the personality, in other words, I wasn't trying to imply that a person whose personality changes is at a higher or lower level that a person whose personality remains the same. Indeed, I'm sure that you would find some people who claim that stable personality is more desireable than personality in a constant state of flux.

However, the important issue is that I am talking about personality change, not intellectual growth. A person can continue to grow with a lack of variety in the stimuli of their lives. They can understand themselves better, learn to appreciate what they have more, grow in their interactions with the constant stimuli in their lives. These are not lower caste sots, but people who are growing intellectually without undergoing personality change.

I certainly don't mean to imply that I think someone who is "the same person" after 20 years is a poor boring sot who is somehow unable to process stimuli and grow or change in any significant way. In terms of personality change, that person may have ample ability for change but little opportunity.