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Originally posted by budski
Group interaction dynamics and the sense of feeling that you belong are an important part of some peoples lives and their social interactions both within and outside the group.
This inevitably shapes perceptions and how others are treated by the group if they are considered an outsider.
Originally posted by kosmicjack
It's been my observation that people also tend to choose from groups available to them in their environment and rarely something completely different. Is it due to lack of imagination or the intense need to "fit" somewhere? I'm not entirely sure of the answer but I bet it has it's origins in the pre-teen years.
Originally posted by sc2099
If I ask you to do me you'll know what I mean, right?
It's others' perception of that qualifier that is really the limit. For example, punk rocker and library volunteer don't have to be mutually exclusive.
The disadvantage is you start to define yourself as _________ rather than qualifying yourself as ________, which is limiting rather than enriching. If you define yourself as a punk rocker then in your own mind that's all you are and nothing more. It becomes who you are rather than what you do, which is a bad thing. People who do this tend to exclude themselves from groups outside their self imposed identity.
Religions, political parties, brand name cults (mac users and ipod listeners, I'm looking in your general direction), universities, and anything that forces a person to exclude other qualifiers from their existence. For example, you can't be a Jehovah's Witness and a Muslim. You can't be a Republican and a Communist party member. Some people think you can't be smart without a degree or you can't be qualified for a job without a certification. You can't be a true technophile unless you use linux or mac.
And here's a big one. You can be a citizen but not a resident of more than one place. That's a manipulation and limit if I ever saw one. And the reason to invent these labels and limits? Cash, duh. It costs money to define ones self as a trendy, progressive, smart, resident of the hippest neighborhood in town, not to mention change residences or make yourself upwardly mobile.
Are you asking someone to do you?
Maybe the psych-experts posting in this thread can share their diagnosis on that.
Originally posted by Skyfloating
"I am a ________ " (fill in the blank).
Questions for Research:
1. What are the benefits of belonging to a social organism? Why do we strive to be part of something and impose artificial definitions on our otherwise unlimited being?
2. What are the disadvantages of taking in a fixed identity too strongly? (Apart from the predictability I pointed out)?
3. Who are we beyond the artificial labels and stereotypes?
4. In which way could it be fun to change ones group-identification once in awhile?
And most importantly:
5. Which subcultures, social organisms, groups, cults seem to be artificially engineered for the purpose of controlling humans?
Originally posted by Skyfloating
OK, since everyone seems to be filling in the blank:
What would happen if we quit defining ourselves as anything and just stick with "I am" or "I am me", period?
Wouldnt that mean we´d be more flexible to take on any given role according to situation?
Today I can be a business person, tommorow I can be a hippie, the day after tommorow I can be a good boy, and then a bad boy.
Would it be a bad thing if we couldnt categorize people anymore and everyday delivers something unexpected to us?
Or in other words: Wouldnt people then become un-controllable?
Originally posted by harrytuttle
The first thing that to came to my mind was "human". I didn't realize I was supposed to think of anything more specific. What does that say about me?