Who Am I?
Posted on 01. Oct, 2009 by Ruda in Society
It still amazes me when I find that so much of our answers are already right in front of us but nobody seems to notice. Yesterday I was in a Psychology class of at least 100 people while the professor went over the concept of an authentic self and an egoistic self. These are the two components of our personalities according to one theory.
The egoistic self is comprised of what we think is desirable by the people around us and the part that is created by us to gain their approval. The authentic self is what we really are and what tendencies we are born with. Everyone has both of these sides, it is only a matter of what kind of balance each person has created between these two.
It seems to me that most people are heavily weighted in the egoistic self and this is clearly noticeable in how similar our behaviors are. Human beings are naturally social creatures and seek approval from those that are around them, but sometimes it goes too far. When someone is deeply entrenched in the egoistic self, an image that they have created for themselves to be more liked by others, their true self suffers and becomes forgotten. As they get more and more used to this and end up living a life very different from what they really want, they get depressed and maybe start questioning why they’re unhappy. This isn’t necessarily something that happens years down the line, this is something that probably happens to most of my peers as well. The part that astonishes is me that this information is being presented to some of these people in my class and they probably wont give it a second thought other than to copy it down and memorize it for an exam.
Even as you’re reading this, think about the qualities that you’ve tried to emphasize in yourself. Did you want to be more funny? smart? good-looking? strong? popular? I know I have. As we try to show these qualities that aren’t naturally a part of who we are, we step farther and farther away from the people that we really should be. To put on the show for the rest of the world can be a great burden. This burden will undoubtedly affect the clarity and freedom of your mind and actions.
A lot of the unhappiness in ourselves can be solved simply by questioning our motives and finding out who we really are outside of our social images. If we are able to live according to what we truly want, whether or not this is something that will make others like us, then we can improve our well-being as people. Who knows, we might even be able to effect change in other parts of our lives with this new found awareness.
Hello! I suppose you couldn't resist trying to catch a glimpse of the person writing all this nonsense. If you want to learn more about me, check out the "About Me" page. Self-explanatory I guess.
SmokeyShade
Oct 6th, 2009
Ruda, I am fascinated by your insight. What intrigues me most about your post is that if more people tapped into their own authentic self, then the world would truly be “changed” THAT drastically.
People would begin to reevaluate their interest and values, an then begin to adapt to their new found “being”. Now, the question I would then ask is, would there be such a dramatic shift in consciousness that would thwart off problems in our society, such as greed and the like? The reason I say it, is that most people I think, would tend to think humans are born greedy by nature…I feel we are all created with an innate good within, and that it is the world that taints our natural glory.
Well, thank you for the post, and I truly look forward to your future posts!!
Ruda
Oct 8th, 2009
I also don’t think greed is inherent in human beings, as something that has come about because of the world, it’s possible to change this. If people were to start changing themselves, then the mistrust of others that causes people to become self-interested in the first place would also disappear. Without this mistrust, there would be no greed. So my answer to you would be that yes I think this would thwart of some of the major problems in our society. Thank You for your question and for reading. I hope to hear from you in the future as well.