(January 19, 2014 at 3:52 pm)rasetsu Wrote:
I will also point out that I don't put any stock in the concept of there being a "real me." Different aspects of my personality and abilities emerge and converge dependent on the occasion. There is no "core" personality that you will get at by peeling back the layers of inhibition. Daniel Dennett has likened consciousness to a "bag of tricks." I would say personality and social interaction is similar; who I am simply depends on which specific combination of tricks I pull from my bag full of tricks, in response to my feelings, needs, and the circumstance. Note that along this metaphor, someone like Ivy who is more successful at social interactions than I am simply has a different bag of tricks, and is able to employ her bag of tricks to effects that I am not able to do so. On the other hand, my ability to make impromptu graphics expressing how I feel, and my ability with words, are tricks that another member can't as readily draw upon in forum interactions. Does that make Ivy less inhibited than me, and me less than that third person? No, of course not.
I'd say the same though there are probably some parameters to how "I" get expressed. I think your choice of mate will influence which of one's potentialities gets expressed. Same with parents and teachers. Beneath it all, however, I don't believe we are all the same. We're not tabla raza before our environments begin to toss and tumble us. (Another romantic notion based on my own nature/nurture vectors no doubt.)
