In the essay “Of the Inconsistency of Our Actions,” Montaigne makes a claim that “to judge a man, we must follow his traces long and carefully.” “A man who does not have a picture of the whole in his head cannot possibly arrange the pieces.” While I agree that humans are inconsistent, I do not agree with this sentiment that it is a negative characteristic. Like Montaigne mentions earlier in the essay, “we do not go; we are carried away.” We are subject to the changing environments, both internally and externally, and as a result of that, changed in the person themselves will obviously follow. That is just a necessary characteristic propelling the progression of their character to meet the demands of those changing environments. Even if a person has the picture in their minds, sometimes they are not in control of the arrangement. Without those twists and turns, which gives the mission purpose, they will be disingenuous in their self-proclaimed paths, and does not make a better person than someone who is inconsistent.
When I read Montaigne’s idea on human inconsistency, I did not get the impression that he was talking about personal growth and adaptation to changing environment, which is a positive characteristic, but a contradiction caused by moods and emotional coloring of the situation. He points out that people frequently contradict their own opinions and previous behavior in irrational way because how the wind is blowing. Humans often react disproportionately to provocation or exaggerated threats and make contradicting and head-scratching choices due to emotion. Montaigne appears to be the Observer personality type, which more detached and cerebral than most people, so he watches people and picks up on little things, which he collects and later analyzes. When he puts the pieces together, he observes the patterns and their inconsistencies and wonders why people behave in this way. An average person is more reactive and less reflective, so they forget in the moment what they said or meant to do beforehand. It’s actually been tested and proven repeatedly that humans have very selective and highly inaccurate memories so they tend to ignore and forget what no longer suits their narrative, even if it something that occurred very recently. I thought it was pretty astute of Montaigne to pick up on a lot of these common human contradictions.