Although we do not peel away the social layers to get to an authentic self, we can become aware of our conditioning and we can strive to do more than react. It takes a long time and a lot of work.
Not saying I'm there; just saying.
Opening up it's not about who you are but what you feel; it implies a level of trust and courage that can make social interaction transformative rather than just ritualized.
Joanna
----- Original Message ----- From: "Miles Jackson" <cqmv at pdx.edu>
On 7/20/2011 9:20 PM, Carrol Cox wrote:
> What does it mean to be a "real" human being rather than a fake human
> being? As soon as the concept is subjected to any analysis whatever
> it simply dissolves.
A very serious sociological topic. The use of "phony" as a pejorative term works because people in our society are expected to have an authentic, unique essence "beneath" their social roles ("the real me"). Ironically, the whole concept of the unique, independent self is a product of social interactions, so when people opens up and share something about who they really are, they're playing out a social role, just like a student in a classroom, a worker in a cubicle, or Lady Gaga at the music awards. Irving Goffman is notorious in sociology for arguing that people are like onions; if you peel away all the layers of social roles to get to the essence of a person, there's nothing left.
So--in this sociological sense, we're all phonies!
Miles ___________________________________ http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk