Self Recognition And The Looking Glass Self

                                                Picture of how Homer wants others to see him

Cooly And The Looking Glass Self

This article talks about the Tree of Knowledge system. It is about how people think of themselves as they think others perceive them. People are very self conscious, and are always trying to improve how they think others want them to be. The article also talks about the self, and how we must justify our actions. Henriques talks about how our “Consciousness serves the individual as a justification filter for their motives” Our conscience tells us what is right and what is wrong. It is what makes us feel ashamed or guilty when we do something wrong. I agree with Henriques that we constantly have to justify our actions to others, but I also think we need to justify our actions to ourselves as well. For example when I don’t feel like running on the weekend during track season, I feel bad for letting myself down more than the excuse. More than justifying to the coach that I was busy, I can’t justify not running to myself. I might tell myself that I have a lot of homework, or have to go somewhere, but I know that I probably have minimal homework and that there are a few hours before I have to go anywhere. The quote “Who are you trying to fool” fits in nicely here because I cannot fool myself into believing a lie that I made up. Similarly when I have a test; and the day before I don’t study for it, I try to justify to myself that I did not have enough time to study. People are also constantly forced to justify their actions to peers, Teachers, and parents. If a friend asks me to come over, I cannot just say no. I need to give a reason why I will not be able to go.

                The study where apes were able to not only study their own thoughts, but also other apes thoughts was similar to humans. Gallup Jr.’s Theory Mind states that we are able to tell what others are thinking. We are able to do this through analyzing facial expressions as well as overall body language and tone of one’s voice. Baylis claims that “Each person was born with a sense of right and wrong.” I do not completely agree with this statement. While we do know that things such as stealing and lying are wrong, we do not learn other right’s and wrong’s until we young children. For example I never knew that littering was wrong. I used to throw my garbage on the floor until my parents told me that I need to throw it in the garbage can. I also agree with Mr. James’s statement that “There are inconsistencies among the self displayed among various circumstances.” This goes along with what we have been talking about in class and the Looking Glass Self. We saw a video on how people act and behave differently on Facebook than in real life. Most things we say online would not be said in front of our parents for example. We also had a discussion on how we behave when we are around different people.  For example if you are with a college admissions Rep you won’t be talking in slang or wearing a ripped up pair of jeans. If you are with a boyfriend or girlfriend, you probably won’t go to lunch with them without putting on makeup or making sure your hair is fine. Similarly, we always want to keep up with the latest things. Our culture is very materialistic, and in order to keep up our status, we have to have the newest phone, wear the designer brands, and be skinny or jacked. These are all ways to influence how others perceive us and our circumstances depict what type of person we will be.

                What people think others think of them and what they actually do can be completely different. For example the event that occurred today during 3^rd period was meant to be a way to try and voice an opinion and try to help our schools and teachers. Those kids were probably doing something that many students and some teachers might commend them for, but instead most kids thought that these protestors were just trying to be funny. I heard several students say that the protestors were just trying to make a scene and were “some stupid Goth kids that don’t care about anything.”  Another event that did not send the message that it was supposed to was the April fool’s joke in Evanston. There was a joke in the paper that Evanston residents were going to be charged for snow removal from the streets. It was meant to be a silly April fool’s Day joke, but most of the residents were furious, even after they found out it wasn’t true and was just a joke.

             Humans try to hard to worry about what others think of them, but we should only worry about how we feel about ourselves because that gives us the best insight as to who we are. People are just actors in a play, I just wish we wouldn't be acting all the time because then we are unable to see the true individual and the play becomes a repetitive action of lies.