That is, if someone were born in a different era, would they still be (excepting specific cultural differences) the same person?
I’m sure for your “average” person, it’s more or less true. They’d be the standard sort of blue/white collar individual no matter what, but what about the “great” people?
Certainly upon reviewing history, the great men of the age embody the zeitgeist, but taken out of that situation, what would they do?
Would a modern Alexander the Great be in charge of logistics for Wal-Mart?
Would Einstein, if he was coming into maturity during the '60s still have had the same impact on physics? (Let’s assume that someone else had come up with his theories at the same time that he had in history) Would he just be a research assistant that had a good future but never really found the niche to make him great?
If Napoleon faced Charlemagne as the rival for control of the Holy Roman Empire, would we expect him to win?
What if Jan Huss was an Apostle of Christ? Would he have been run out of town before planting the seeds of the Reformation (or a Reformation-like movement)?
Would Buddha, born in the '60s make any great contribution to religion or would he just wear flowers in his hair and grow pot in his attic?