Unfortunately, unintentionally, unconsciously we may all end up
extolling the wrong things. Both our individual self and social self are to a
large extent shaped by how we relate with our circumstances and how our
contexts relate with us.
Cognitive neuroscientist Bruce Hood's exploration of the
building blocks of what we experience as the “self” in "The Self
Illusion: How the Social Brain Creates Identity'
Amazon review of the book runs excellently as , "Most
of us believe that we are unique and coherent individuals, but are we? The idea
of a "self" has existed ever since humans began to live in groups and
become sociable. Those who embrace the self as an individual in the West, or a
member of the group in the East, feel fulfilled and purposeful. This experience
seems incredibly real but a wealth of recent scientific evidence reveals that
this notion of the independent, coherent self is an illusion - it is not what
it seems. Reality as we perceive it is not something that objectively exists,
but something that our brains construct from moment to moment, interpreting,
summarizing, and substituting information along the way. Like a science fiction
movie, we are living in a matrix that is our mind.
In The Self Illusion, Dr. Bruce Hood reveals how the self
emerges during childhood and how the architecture of the developing brain
enables us to become social animals dependent on each other. He explains that
self is the product of our relationships and interactions with others, and it
exists only in our brains. The author argues, however, that though the self is
an illusion, it is one that humans cannot live without.
But things are changing as our technology develops and shapes
society. The social bonds and relationships that used to take time and effort
to form are now undergoing a revolution as we start to put our self online.
Social networking activities such as blogging, Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter
threaten to change the way we behave. Social networking is fast becoming
socialization on steroids. The speed and ease at which we can form alliances
and relationships is outstripping the same selection processes that shaped our
self prior to the internet era. This book ventures into unchartered territory
to explain how the idea of the self will never be the same again in the online
social world."
The author does all these while analyzing the biography of the
most paradoxical character .Howard Hughes, at once a legendary aviator, movie
mogul, tycoon, and socialite, and a reclusive billionaire housebound by his
deathly phobia of dirt. He was a fearless aviation pioneer who set and broke
countless records, yet he remained terrified of dying from germs. Hughes spent
his final days unbathed, dressed in rags, with long sticky hair, curling nails,
and the remnants of five hypodermic needles in his arms. He was worth $2
billion!!
Reality is neither any axiomatic certainty nor is it a frozen
faith to be scrupulously followed by blinkered believes operating within fixed
fences or identity cages but it is mostly contextually shaped by relationships
and how we relate to others and things and environment etc .
No human being can be know all or omniscient personality to
dictate anything to the rest but we all need to respect certain time cherished
and time tested values for the good of everyone.
http://contentwriteups.blogspot.in/2013/12/new-year-with-new-realization-of-reality.html
http://contentwriteups.blogspot.in/2013/12/new-year-with-new-realization-of-reality.html
and remember everyone and everything is interrelated
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