Loading...

Messages

Proposals

Stuck in your homework and missing deadline? Get urgent help in $10/Page with 24 hours deadline

Get Urgent Writing Help In Your Essays, Assignments, Homeworks, Dissertation, Thesis Or Coursework & Achieve A+ Grades.

Privacy Guaranteed - 100% Plagiarism Free Writing - Free Turnitin Report - Professional And Experienced Writers - 24/7 Online Support

The artichoke version of the self

26/12/2020 Client: saad24vbs Deadline: 10 Days

Readings


Is There an Essential Human Nature?—The Artichoke View


Tom Wolfe's The Bonfire of the Vanities introduces us to Sherman McCoy, a Wall Street bond trader who, at the beginning of the novel, sees himself as a “master of the universe.” Arrested for vehicular manslaughter and financially ruined, he is taken from his elegant Park Avenue apartment to a downtown New York police station for booking. Somewhere during this dehumanizing experience, the “self” he thought was so durable begins to deteriorate. Stepping in to editorialize, novelist Wolfe tells us that we need the “whole village” of our social relationships to keep our “self” in place. Citing scientific data, Wolfe tells the reader that healthy college students, if subjected to total sensory deprivation, begin to hallucinate in a few hours. When deprived of constant feedback to fuel its image, the self, it would seem, simply disintegrates. If this is so, then was the self ever real to begin with?


The Protean Self


One artichoke view of human nature assumes that disintegration and re-formation of the self is not necessarily a bad thing. Based on Proteus—the shape-shifter of Greek mythology who was able to appear as a green tree, an old man, a blinding fire—this view agrees that we are nothing but our layers and finds this reasonable and healthy. Lacking a central core, as posited by the avocado view, we are able to respond to the lack of continuity we find in the world by adapting to it. If reality were stable and filled with meaning, it might make sense to strive for a core self; because it is not, the psychologically healthy approach might be to imitate Proteus and change with a changing world.


 Psychiatrist Robert Lifton suggests that people could be hippies when young and, years later, conservative businesspeople, with no loss of identity or fragmentation. In this view, a “self,” like an artichoke, is composed of many layers, each of which is real and functional only at particular times or in particular circumstances. Viewing the self as a collage rather than as a single, unchanging picture might better enable us to move successfully among incomplete, changing realities. The world is unpredictable, so we need a whole collection of selves with which to meet it. Some would say that Bill Clinton's success as president of the United States was due in part to his ability to negotiate among a repertoire of “selves.” We might think here of a pomegranate that contains many seeds, each representing a version of the self. If planted, does each have the potential to become a core self? 36


   PC games such as The Sims or SimCity give all of us the opportunity to try out alternative identities. Simulated identities or Sims are called avatars, a word used in Hinduism to describe the bodily incarnation of a god. Will Wright, creator of The Sims Online, envisions an entire online world, available 24/7. The Web site ( http://www.eagames.com/official/thesimsonline/home/index.jsp ) explains: “The Sims Online is a massive world built by thousands of players. Create a Sim and play as yourself or your alternate Sim persona. Explore neighborhoods, make friends, host events, or run a business. The only limit is your imagination.”


   Dr. Sherry Turkle, a psychologist who directs the Initiative on Technology and Self at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), observes that the computer has become a metaphor for thinking about the self, with each computer window representing an aspect of the self and cycling through windows a way of thinking about relationships among them. “When people are online,” Turkle says, “they tend to express different aspects of themselves in different settings . . . They find ways to think about a healthy self not as single and unitary, but rather as having many aspects. People come to see themselves as the sum of their distributed presences . . .” 37


   This certainly seems to be the case for Richard L. Stenlund, who spends forty hours a week as the mutant Thedeacon on the massively multiplayer game Anarchy Online. “It's a total release of the id,” he observes. “I think people are generally false . . . but in A.O. you can really let your true character out. If I want to be a pervert, I am able to do that in A.O. and be a pervert right off the bat.” Stenlund does seem to take a dim view of human nature: “The more you deal with people, the more you hate people . . . It just feels that everybody is so asleep in this world.” And, at the same time, other players in Anarchy Online applaud his “natural entertainer's personality” as well as “how helpful and patient” he is in assisting newer players. At times he functions as a “Dr. Phil-like self-help guru and mentor.” One example is his frequently accessed guide on “Making LOTS of money as a new player.” 38



Applied Sciences

Architecture and Design

Biology

Business & Finance

Chemistry

Computer Science

Geography

Geology

Education

Engineering

English

Environmental science

Spanish

Government

History

Human Resource Management

Information Systems

Law

Literature

Mathematics

Nursing

Physics

Political Science

Psychology

Reading

Science

Social Science

Home

Blog

Archive

Contact

google+twitterfacebook

Copyright © 2019 HomeworkMarket.com

Homework is Completed By:

Writer Writer Name Amount Client Comments & Rating
Instant Homework Helper

ONLINE

Instant Homework Helper

$36

She helped me in last minute in a very reasonable price. She is a lifesaver, I got A+ grade in my homework, I will surely hire her again for my next assignments, Thumbs Up!

Order & Get This Solution Within 3 Hours in $25/Page

Custom Original Solution And Get A+ Grades

  • 100% Plagiarism Free
  • Proper APA/MLA/Harvard Referencing
  • Delivery in 3 Hours After Placing Order
  • Free Turnitin Report
  • Unlimited Revisions
  • Privacy Guaranteed

Order & Get This Solution Within 6 Hours in $20/Page

Custom Original Solution And Get A+ Grades

  • 100% Plagiarism Free
  • Proper APA/MLA/Harvard Referencing
  • Delivery in 6 Hours After Placing Order
  • Free Turnitin Report
  • Unlimited Revisions
  • Privacy Guaranteed

Order & Get This Solution Within 12 Hours in $15/Page

Custom Original Solution And Get A+ Grades

  • 100% Plagiarism Free
  • Proper APA/MLA/Harvard Referencing
  • Delivery in 12 Hours After Placing Order
  • Free Turnitin Report
  • Unlimited Revisions
  • Privacy Guaranteed

6 writers have sent their proposals to do this homework:

Writer Writer Name Offer Chat

Writers are writing their proposals. Just wait here to get the offers for your project...

Let our expert academic writers to help you in achieving a+ grades in your homework, assignment, quiz or exam.

Similar Homework Questions

Johns reflective model 2004 - Leadership and management models mgt - Ucertify quiz answers - A sheet that is made of plastic n - Perceived self and presenting self examples - How to calculate paint required for a wall - Pendleton act of 1881 - Agriculture machine with name and uses - Professional Product - Environment, Technology and Culture - Ron williamson good morning america - Bromothymol blue substitute - University of kent sds - Ict a level syllabus 2017 - Visualization tool analysis on a dataset - Jeremy bentham is most closely related with which philosophical theory - Sealink ferry timetable tiwi islands - Top down risk management approach - Chcprt001 forum - Making aspirin from willow bark - First love john clare - Programmed and nonprogrammed decision making ppt - Hw on Fallacies ( information system) - Soap Note CC: “I need to start on birth control, I just don’t know which one to go on as there are so many to choose from.” - Well researched paper needed - Jacob allusion merchant of venice - Crucible pdf act 1 - Aqa a level physics scheme of work - Isaiah 65 17 25 - ASSIGNMENT CCJ4450 - Institute of fire engineers australia - Five levels of leadership summary - Blue eyes vs brown eyes experiment - Mafs 912 a rei 4.10 answer key - Stubhub masters hospitality tent review - Owls ii sample report - Stuart collins croydon council - Is mf01 183 1392 - Winter dreams study guide - There will come soft rains summary by ray bradbury - Homework - Chemistry mole conversions worksheet answers - Anthem for doomed youth onomatopoeia - Home energy audit student worksheet answers - Benchmark evidence based practice project paper on diabetes - Decision making styles soc 110 - Russian peasant algorithm python - Tea tree oil on tampon for trich - Dominant species vs keystone species - Audience benefits and the you view chapter 2 - Creating a new position at work - Sissy strong fitness body guide pdf - Designing team and team identity in team management - Case Study - statistical Analysis - Newman projection to chair conformation - Help Needed - Management communication: a case-analysis approach, 5th edition, o’rourke, pearson, 2013. - The incredibles insurance scene explained - Pca on time series - Incorrect syntax near the keyword 'distinct' - PowerPoint - Psychology unit 3 and 4 notes - Los primos ____ bien. - Shell tellus s2 vx 46 msds - So you ve been publicly shamed sparknotes - Chaparral rainfall graph - 7 Habits of Highly Effective People BUSA 208 Assignment - Answer the following question in 600 to 700 words - Aqua life warrnambool aquarium - The margin of safety is the excess of - Information security policy - Meg lanning partner james considine - Cosi louis nowra quotes - Nacionaline dailes galerija kavine - Is parallax error random or systematic - Deliverable 3 - Enhancing Messages with Visuals - Aloeswood incense the first brazier - Amanda verizon - Essential property of food equipment - On demand assessment results - Arditex na on chipboard - Akron children's hospital case study solution - Starbucks password reset unsuccessful - Given two tables employee and department - Solar accreditation course melbourne - Eastern creek waste management centre - Change request form project management - How to calculate compound interest on hp 10bii - Reality Check Assignment - Double staggered piquet list - Braemar tudor romeo cooktop - Can you complete my assignment for me? - Global information technology management - Humn 8660 - ET WK 7 Research paper - Entrepreneurial Venture Plan Paper | DUE IN 24 HOURS - Apex ich auto cpap - ComputerSecur8Dis - Surveymonkey multiple choice with text box - Qnt 275 week 1 practice set answers