To be or not to be
Again the question of identity and multiple facades surfaces. I had mentioned in a previous post, quoting Pirandello, how one is sometimes unable to identify with the host of masks and people that are one. Pirandello’s form and life are simple concepts that lead to complications as they try to explain similar complexities. I realize that some members of my readership possibly find this redundant, however, I feel it is evergreen and I can relate to it in particular more than I relate to many issues.
By admitting that one has many faces, one is hardly being schizophrenic, one is being honest. This all boils down to saying that label sticking is hardly ever correct or appropriate, basically because, as I stated above, one has many faces, and because there is not ultimate knowledge possessed by anyone. Think of truth as a puzzle, some have more pieces than others, but none have the whole set.
I should note that the crusade of my life revolves around fighting labels, because I find this issue to be both central and vastly misapprehended, therefore a probable foundation for trouble. And in retrospect, I can rationalize many a behavior of mine based on my fresh and transparent understanding of what, in reality, I had set out to do.
I have always refused being classified like I am some sort of a product. I follow no specific genre, and I would like to think no label could be forced upon me, not even nonconformist. And I strongly believe that I cannot categorize people, neither do I wish to, because it will prove to be a waste of my time and intellectual faculties, to no good end. Labeling is another form of the fatal error of attribution or generalization. You seldom get away with it, and if you do, it will catch up with you.
By labeling people one limits them to that specific category, and limits his/her self to only seeing them through that narrow perspective. Hence problems arise. Let me break things down for you.
If one judges another based on appearance as being, say, narrow minded, then one has miscalculated. This seemingly harmless act of tagging people, in my opinion, is the reason why many feel rejected and looked down upon by others. This feeling of being “outcasts” could lead them to improper conduct, not to mention the generation of closed classes of individuals who throng together, social classes, the so-called peer pressure and what not.
Some may say that I overdrammatized things in that example, but I am not convinced of that allegation. I personally have been in such situations and I have closely observed what labeling can do, and what it does in reality.
In my reading of The Writer’s Idea Book by Jack Heffron, I came across chapter five entitled “I yam what I yam and other lies”. Writer’s Digest Books published the book in 2003. Heffron writes:
Getting at how we are is tough to do, and who we are changes depending on day,
time, location and circumstance. We are parent, boss, motorist, son/daughter,employee, mate, shortstop, tourist, reader, writer, expert, novice and many other identities. We are “the chameleon poet” and we “contain multitudes.”
There is a famous anecdote about the poet James Dickey nervously waiting
backstage before a national television appearance. Someone told him,
“Relax, just be yourself,” and he answered, “which one?”
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October 20th, 2005 at 8:14 am
yes, you are 100% right… but its our nature to classify peoples… so we can control our reactions and behavior and what we say, what we do…
you see as an example, your way in talking with me is not like the way you talk to your best friend…
October 20th, 2005 at 9:37 am
I understand that,black cats. Indeed the ways one interacts with different people are, at least, as varied as the number of people one gets in contact with.
That is not quite the topic of my post, however. I tried to shed some light on what I like to call label sticking, i.e the stratification of people in general groups.
It is simple, really. If one has many faces, and if we establish that what truth we know is merely a fraction of the whole picture of truth, then any labels would be inappropriate. Even the one who sticks any such labels is, ideally, not “one”.
I do not wish to be taken the wrong way, I realise that some people will fail to understand what I am talking about.
October 20th, 2005 at 1:46 pm
Interesting post :) Even thought I never quite thought of it this way before, what you said make a lot of sense, but still the idea is not yet clearly developed in my mind. I mean let’s consider a mid way, and see if it’s just or not… for example having larger classes or clusters, or differentiate between ppl based on what they do rather than how… I am just exploring others views about the whole subject, I gotta think more about it.
October 20th, 2005 at 9:27 pm
Tololy - you have touched upon a topic that constantly nags at me. I see people as just that - people. Not black, not white, not middle eastern, not religious, not aetheist.
Labels irk and disturb me, for the simple reason that I myself may prove to be (for purposes of example only) conservative in one situation and completely liberal in another.
Observing human behavior, and starting with my own self, it is completely obvious to me that I am multi-faceted and possess many layers of complication to my personality, thought process, and general existence. As does, of course, every human being, since that is what makes us human!
We are at some moments humorous and carefree, and at others serious and maybe even threatening. This may change based on a number of internal as well as external factors, so which one is REALLY the truth about who we are? The truth is we are all of our multiple personalities, all of our moods, all of our thoughts, and we should draw empowerment from owning all facets of ourselves.
Thanks!
October 21st, 2005 at 2:04 pm
Sinan, I really hope that you think the matter up and inform us, the inhabitants of the box, of what you turn up with.
I adore sharing ideas terribly, and I am always ready to learn.
Lulu,
You make perfect sense.