Blog 8 - Me and I

 

In class today, we talked about George Herbert Mead.

His most famous theory was the theory of self. Self is someone's identity. There are actually two parts to the self and he calls them "I" and "me." The "me" is how you view yourself. "Me" is your own personality, your hobbies, your interests, etc.; it is all how you view yourself. The "I" is how others perceive you. This is how people view your personality, your hobbies, your interests, etc.

One may think that these two things are the same. However, that can be completely far from the truth. Perhaps someone does not like that they are quick to anger. They may try to hide it from the rest of society because they do not want people to look down on that person. So in simple terms the “me” is quick to anger, but the “I” does not have an anger issue at all or has the occasional, but not bothersome, spurts of anger.

 We also talked about Facebook in class and how people can present their “I” much differently than their “me” actually is. Some people may present themselves in a caring and selfless person on Facebook, but they may be self-centered in real life; their “me.”

I said in class that I sometimes use Facebook to see if people view my “I” as I see my “me.” I like to think that I am funny, so I post funny things on Facebook and people have the opportunity to like and validate my perception of myself. I normally do not get upset if people do not think of me is funny, but it is nice to hear when people let me know that I am funny.

I chose this photo, because I think it matches Mead’s ideas. The left side of the photo perhaps signifies how you perceive yourself, the “me”, and the right side of the photo could be how society views you, the “I.”    

"Split Personality" by Alexey Teterin