X-Message-Number: 11025 From: Thomas Donaldson <> Subject: "Self-Esteem" and Identity Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1999 00:01:54 +1100 (EST) Hi everyone! I have been very skeptical of Ellis, Freud, and other such ever since I began to look at how our brains actually work. And while "self-esteem" may certainly be important, talking about it as if it plays some central role begs the question of just how it arises & when it is appropriate. Mike Perry also comes up with a very interesting point. Some, perhaps many, have their sense of identity bound up with conditions which only will exist for a short time: such as those around them, their social status, etc. This is not the only way we might see our identity, but many people find it hard to conceive of themselves remaining the same person without the social roles they presently inhabit. And since our sense of identity is fundamental, I suspect that it would be very hard to get such people out of that mode. Perhaps they are even telling us that they doubt that they could adapt to any other situation ... a pity, because they too are people, but they could be right. As for myself, I would expect to grow and change. I would be the same person in exactly the sense that I am now, at age 55, the same as the boy Tommy who once grew gourds in his backyard and played with them as if they were spaceships. Best and long long life, Thomas Donaldson Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=11025