Class Is In Session
Identity
Erickson's concern with identity has its roots in Socrates' dictum to "know thyself." In the constant change or development one goes through, he constantly asks (1) Who am I?, and (2) What am I here for? Answering these questions can assure a rewarding existence, if one is happy with the answer to who he is. If not, change is in order.
To find "Who am I?" one should take away all props and expose one's self to everything which can help -- psychology, religion, science, medicine, philosophy, etc. Once one finds out who he/she is, the answer to "What am I here for?" is somewhat easier. Once one knows who he is, his next responsibility is to help other people find out who they are. Goals of fame and fortune should fall appropriately below this psychological goal of helping others know themselves. For a person to achieve his full potential is true success. The concerned parent or helper should realize, however, that self knowledge is not what another wants for a person. One can help, but not answer for another what he/she is.
The term identity comes from the Latin word idem, which means the same. One's identity is what remains fairly consistent throughout one's life. It will be a set of personality characteristics. Bodies, minds and external surroundings constantly change. Characteristics such as kind or energetic usually last from the early years throughout one's life.
Shakespeare wrote "To thine own self be true. Thou canst not then be false to any man." If one truly faces himself then he will be honest to everyone and to life itself. The quest for self-knowledge and awareness can be seen in doodling and in students writing their names, hometowns and nicknames on desks. In James Joyce's The Portrait of An Artist as a Young Man, the young hero Stephen Daedalus, while sitting in school begins by writing his name, then his address, then his city, his country, and ultimately the earth and the universe. That is what we all must do -- begin with ourselves and then expand out into a larger context, eventually finding our place in the whole of the cosmos.
The place of one's job in identity is often misunderstood. The job does not equal identity. Jobs are lost or changed but the personality characteristics, which lead to the jobs, remain the same. only 40% of college students get jobs in their major fields and only ten percent remain in them after five years. To find the appropriate job one should decide: (1) What does he want to do? (2) Can he do it or learn to do it? (3) Can he make a living he wants at it?
Some observations can be made about identity. Personal failure is tied to identity, for all problems are at their base psychological, and derive from a lack of self-esteem. Depression, anger, insanity, most physical illness, use of alcohol and drugs, are all escapes from a self which does not feel good about itself.
Identity is one's own responsibility. One can't blame anyone -- parents, friends, the minister or the president, for anything -- the town, weather, school, job, grades, or lack of money. If one is unhappy with anything he should act as an adult and change things.
In the end only each individual can know himself, take responsibility for himself or find himself lacking. Psychology says that the only sin is to go against one's own moral code. No one can define what is wrong for another. Each of us determines what is right for us. The quest is to do what our inner being tells us to do.
One of the most difficult things to do with the multi-faceted personalities that exist is to classify them. Out of the thousands of words that can be used to define a human personality most of them can be grouped into a few categories. Erich Fromm lists 4 typs of individuals -- thinking (25%), feeling (25%), sensing (40%), and intuiting (10%), and sees an introvert and extrovert phase to each. An introvert thinker would be a theorist like Kant, the extrovert would be an administrator like Franklin Roosevelt. Introvert feelers would be poets; extroverts would be public performers or figures like Santa Claus. Introvert sensors would be artists like Thomas Mann; extroverts would be salesmen and could be like many Americans. Introvert intuiters would be prophets and visionaires, like Blake; extroverts would be pioneers like political thinker Trotsky. These types may help to understand one's self.
Probes:
Know thyself. - Socrates
The self is not a self until it is self-conscious. - Alan Paton
Every day we should all do something that will extend us. - John Powell, "Fully Human Fully Alive"
A day in one's life is a small replica of one's life. - Maurice Nicoll
He gave no opening to himself. - Paul Weiss of William F. Buckley
Live all you can; it's a mistake not to.....Live. - Henry James
I just want him to stay with me till I can be sure he won't turn into "Norman Nothing". I want to be sure he'll know when he's chickening out on himself. I want him to get to know exactly the special thing he is or else he won't notice it when it starts to go. I want him to stay awake and know who the phonies are. I want him to know how to holler and put up an argument, I want a little guts to show before I can let him go. I want to be sure he sees all the wild possibilities. I want him to know it's worth all the trouble just to give the world a little goosing when you get the chance. And I want him to know the subtle, sneaky, important reason why he was born a human being and not a chair. - Murray of nephew Norman, in "1000 Clowns", by Herb Gardner
Erickson's concern with identity has its roots in Socrates' dictum to "know thyself." In the constant change or development one goes through, he constantly asks (1) Who am I?, and (2) What am I here for? Answering these questions can assure a rewarding existence, if one is happy with the answer to who he is. If not, change is in order.
To find "Who am I?" one should take away all props and expose one's self to everything which can help -- psychology, religion, science, medicine, philosophy, etc. Once one finds out who he/she is, the answer to "What am I here for?" is somewhat easier. Once one knows who he is, his next responsibility is to help other people find out who they are. Goals of fame and fortune should fall appropriately below this psychological goal of helping others know themselves. For a person to achieve his full potential is true success. The concerned parent or helper should realize, however, that self knowledge is not what another wants for a person. One can help, but not answer for another what he/she is.
The term identity comes from the Latin word idem, which means the same. One's identity is what remains fairly consistent throughout one's life. It will be a set of personality characteristics. Bodies, minds and external surroundings constantly change. Characteristics such as kind or energetic usually last from the early years throughout one's life.
Shakespeare wrote "To thine own self be true. Thou canst not then be false to any man." If one truly faces himself then he will be honest to everyone and to life itself. The quest for self-knowledge and awareness can be seen in doodling and in students writing their names, hometowns and nicknames on desks. In James Joyce's The Portrait of An Artist as a Young Man, the young hero Stephen Daedalus, while sitting in school begins by writing his name, then his address, then his city, his country, and ultimately the earth and the universe. That is what we all must do -- begin with ourselves and then expand out into a larger context, eventually finding our place in the whole of the cosmos.
The place of one's job in identity is often misunderstood. The job does not equal identity. Jobs are lost or changed but the personality characteristics, which lead to the jobs, remain the same. only 40% of college students get jobs in their major fields and only ten percent remain in them after five years. To find the appropriate job one should decide: (1) What does he want to do? (2) Can he do it or learn to do it? (3) Can he make a living he wants at it?
Some observations can be made about identity. Personal failure is tied to identity, for all problems are at their base psychological, and derive from a lack of self-esteem. Depression, anger, insanity, most physical illness, use of alcohol and drugs, are all escapes from a self which does not feel good about itself.
Identity is one's own responsibility. One can't blame anyone -- parents, friends, the minister or the president, for anything -- the town, weather, school, job, grades, or lack of money. If one is unhappy with anything he should act as an adult and change things.
In the end only each individual can know himself, take responsibility for himself or find himself lacking. Psychology says that the only sin is to go against one's own moral code. No one can define what is wrong for another. Each of us determines what is right for us. The quest is to do what our inner being tells us to do.
One of the most difficult things to do with the multi-faceted personalities that exist is to classify them. Out of the thousands of words that can be used to define a human personality most of them can be grouped into a few categories. Erich Fromm lists 4 typs of individuals -- thinking (25%), feeling (25%), sensing (40%), and intuiting (10%), and sees an introvert and extrovert phase to each. An introvert thinker would be a theorist like Kant, the extrovert would be an administrator like Franklin Roosevelt. Introvert feelers would be poets; extroverts would be public performers or figures like Santa Claus. Introvert sensors would be artists like Thomas Mann; extroverts would be salesmen and could be like many Americans. Introvert intuiters would be prophets and visionaires, like Blake; extroverts would be pioneers like political thinker Trotsky. These types may help to understand one's self.
Probes:
Know thyself. - Socrates
The self is not a self until it is self-conscious. - Alan Paton
Every day we should all do something that will extend us. - John Powell, "Fully Human Fully Alive"
A day in one's life is a small replica of one's life. - Maurice Nicoll
He gave no opening to himself. - Paul Weiss of William F. Buckley
Live all you can; it's a mistake not to.....Live. - Henry James
I just want him to stay with me till I can be sure he won't turn into "Norman Nothing". I want to be sure he'll know when he's chickening out on himself. I want him to get to know exactly the special thing he is or else he won't notice it when it starts to go. I want him to stay awake and know who the phonies are. I want him to know how to holler and put up an argument, I want a little guts to show before I can let him go. I want to be sure he sees all the wild possibilities. I want him to know it's worth all the trouble just to give the world a little goosing when you get the chance. And I want him to know the subtle, sneaky, important reason why he was born a human being and not a chair. - Murray of nephew Norman, in "1000 Clowns", by Herb Gardner