Similarly, philosopher John Dewey championed the “indefinite plasticity of human nature,” which had only been fossilized by “habit”—habit that could be changed. In fact, said Dewey, “If human nature is unchangeable, then there is no such thing as education and all our efforts to educate are doomed to failure. . . . The assertion that a proposed change is impossible because of the fixed constitution of human nature diverts attention from the question of whether or not a change is desirable and from the other question of how it shall be brought about.”18
