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Wed 3 Mar, 2004 02:53 pm
Children are often told they should go out and "find themselves". And then, once they have, they are, in turn, encouraged to "be themselves".
Yet at the same time those who are encouraging this often make it rather clear that, respecting many things, there is, in fact, a Right and a Wrong to think and feel and behave.
But this is clearly contradictory. Or can be. If someone is encouraged to go out into the world and "find out who they are" what happens if they find out they are a Nazi or a Communist or a relgious fanatic? What if they reject the values and moral/political convictions of the parent or guardian who encouraged them to "be who you are" in the first place?
And, in world without God, isn't any particular identity we choose merely interchangable with any other one in the end? Why is one more reasonable than another? And aren't we likely to choose a "self" that we have been programmed since birth by others to adopt as "our own", anyway? That is why a boy growing up in an impoverished Palestinian refugee camp on the West Bank will almost certainly not grow up to see himself and the world around him as a girl raised in a wealthy Jewish family in metropolitan Tel Aviv.
What does it even mean to think of "myself" in a world where so much is mass produced in a prefabricated pop culture environment? Does identity really mean much these days when, instead, it is differents "lifestyle" that youth tend to try on like they would clothes in a shopping mall?
Randall Patrick
There can be an essentially infinite variety of coffee mugs which are all free-standing, have a handle, and provide some insulation between the person and the beverage.
Ahh, the question of self. The first thing I can tell you is that true 'self-kowledge' has absolutely nothing to do with what you posted. It involves the development of a certain awareness that allows you to see beyond the hurdles you mention. I'll come back to this, but I hope some of the more spiritual here pop in and offer their suggestions.
You have your body and your experiences. The homogenity of french fries does nothing to change that.
It increases the homogeneity of my body...
Randall, I do not think that you "find" yourself to be a Nazi or communist! Moral and political convictions are chosen for many reasons, but I doubt if anyone is "born" to hold any particular ones. In any case, most parents understand that their children can hold different beliefs without being "wrong."
"Be yourself" simply means that you do not have to conform to a role imposed on you by your parents or other people, if that is not who you really are. That doesn't mean that you are excused from following ethical guidelines, no matter what you decide your goals in life are.
Of course most people will follow the conventions of the society in which they are raised, but there are myriad ways to find your own identity and still remain within the boundaries of your culture and morality.
That is why a boy growing up in an impoverished Palestinian refugee camp on the West Bank will almost certainly not grow up to see himself and the world around him as a girl raised in a wealthy Jewish family in metropolitan Tel Aviv.
If you think about that statement more, you will clearly see that it is flawed. The girl can be easily distracted by her own social group.
On another note, we can never really be ourselves because we are such a social species. That means that we are going to try to copy anything going on in our environment.f
What are we outside of social identity though? Not how we see the world, but us, ourselves, the attitude we portray.
A mass of tissues that must eat or die.
<<<Randall, I do not think that you "find" yourself to be a Nazi or communist! Moral and political convictions are chosen for many reasons, but I doubt if anyone is "born" to hold any particular ones. In any case, most parents understand that their children can hold different beliefs without being "wrong.">>>
Most parents [most people] have a strong conviction about that which is Right and Wrong. If, for example, a parent believes abortion or homosexuality is immoral and the child goes out into the world and supports abortion on demand or becomes a champion of gay rights, some parents will support them, true; but many will not. The crucial point, however, revolves around whether or not it is possible to even distinguish right from wrong.
<<<"Be yourself" simply means that you do not have to conform to a role imposed on you by your parents or other people, if that is not who you really are. That doesn't mean that you are excused from following ethical guidelines, no matter what you decide your goals in life are.>>>
But how does one go about determining who they are when so much of what encompasses human identity is merely a matter of where you were born---in what historical era? in what culture?---or what you were acculturated to believe is true as a child? It all just seems so hopelessly problematic to me. That you choose to be this instead of that is mostly just a manifestation of circumstantial interactions. And there is no way in which to determine that one way is any more or less rational than any other way to be. Almost any behavior can be rationalized. In part because over the centuries almost every behavior already has been.
RP
Of course most people will follow the conventions of the society in which they are raised, but there are myriad ways to find your own identity and still remain within the boundaries of your culture and morality.[/quote]
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