Post by mgm on Oct 17, 2017 23:04:27 GMT
I think this statement is saying that our sense of self is built up gradually over time by the ways in which we see ourselves in relation to society.
For example, if I obtained a certain score on an IQ test and learned that in relation to everyone else my score was low, then I might begin to think of myself as being ‘not very bright’ - which in turn could negatively affect my sense of self esteem and confidence. This view of myself as being ‘unintelligent’ did not arise from the actual score itself - my score was simply my score before I realized how it compared to the scores of those around me. It was at this point, the moment of relation, that meaning was assigned to my score and the sense of being 'unintelligent' was born.
I think in a way similar to this simple example, it could be argued that many facets of our sense of ‘self’ come to be. Although the means of comparison might usually be more indirect then in the above example; I think often we measure our own behaviour/thoughts/actions against an ‘ideal’ that we have constructed and internalized based on the norms and values of the society in which we live.
For example, if I obtained a certain score on an IQ test and learned that in relation to everyone else my score was low, then I might begin to think of myself as being ‘not very bright’ - which in turn could negatively affect my sense of self esteem and confidence. This view of myself as being ‘unintelligent’ did not arise from the actual score itself - my score was simply my score before I realized how it compared to the scores of those around me. It was at this point, the moment of relation, that meaning was assigned to my score and the sense of being 'unintelligent' was born.
I think in a way similar to this simple example, it could be argued that many facets of our sense of ‘self’ come to be. Although the means of comparison might usually be more indirect then in the above example; I think often we measure our own behaviour/thoughts/actions against an ‘ideal’ that we have constructed and internalized based on the norms and values of the society in which we live.