What makes me “me”? People often implicitly embrace a concept of true self, without shaking it out for inspection. How much can I decide who I am? Is it an open slate? I think that most of us can reject that — in whatever combination you wish to give them credit, we can all agree that your biological family and your upbringing do contribute to who you are. But what about who you can be? As adults, how much choice do we have, not only over our actions, but who we “are”? I think that often we revert back to a comfortable essentialist statements – “I’m not a creative person.” “I rub people the wrong way.” “I wish it was, but that’s just not me.” But how much is who we are in our conscious control? Joining the frenzy of Potter-mania in preparation for the 7th book, I was struck in a new way by the Sorting Hat. It decided, without input from the individual, what house you belonged in — what your traits at that point most strongly pointed you to. However, Harry was also able to consciously influence where his future direction went — the hat wanted to put him in Slytherin, but he wanted to be in Gryffindor. He decided a personality direction. From what already him, he chose a path. As the books progress, he struggles with this point repeatedly, questioning the Sorting Hat about whether he really does belong. Has he violated some inherent identity, some destiny? The hat maintains that he would have done well in Slytherin, but later, Dumbledore points out that it’s the choices you make that make you who you are. Interesting view, from a world with prophesies and a “chosen one.”
So back in real life, how much do you decide who you are? What’s important in making you who you are? Is it your social group identity? Is it your values? Your beliefs? Your actions? Can you have multiple social identities and still be true to your “self”?
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