Why it’s never too late for humans to change

With an almost boundless capacity to learn, people are more able to change than we think

Panta rhei. Everything flows. This aphorism was supposedly coined by Heraclitus nearly 3,000 years ago. It was his belief that nothing remains as it is; the only constant is change. Most of us would agree unreservedly with this idea. After all, we see the world changing every day as we go about our lives - and that's not only true of everything, but of everyone, too.

Children become adults, eloquent professors turn into care-dependent dementia patients, high-school dropouts transform into dotcom billionaires and wallflowers grow into showstopping stars. But we have a tendency to "freeze-frame" our fellow human beings in certain situations. We speak of born orators, artists, or thinkers, but also born losers and born criminals.