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understanding the self {ch.1-11}

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What is Life? (Ultimate guide for Dummies)

Hey guys, wassup! hows it going? I’m Aes btw!! So today I'm going to talk about the Philosophical perspective of the self, and this topic tackles about how to understand thyself philosophically. Now people has always been boggled about how we end up on Earth? How did we end up in here? Whats our primary goals? What was the reason we're actually here? And that’s where philosophers butt into our lives and they've let centuries passed just to study about life and why the consciousness is essential with discovering the self, our purpose, and our way of living. Philosophers broke down the ways of thinking about ourselves and explains them thoroughly and these philosophers have been doing these since ancient times and because of their hard work and dedication, people up to this day still recognise their works and efforts to explain the purpose of our lives not just as humans but also as conscious individuals.

Im about introduce to you three amazing individuals who have done tremendous achievements on the field of Philosophy

Three Greek philosophers namely Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle created the foundation of Philosophy in our lives. They were the first to explain our objectives, purpose, and essentials in our entire lifespan. They’ve summed up that our lives don’t stop when we die, we continue our lives by the kindness that we showed to other people and we can accomplish a fulfilling life by making a mark for them to remember us, either by doing a good deed or by taking a huge risk for the people you recognise as somebody who gives meaning towards you. We fulfilled our duties as individuals when we take account either of the three greek philosophers definition on how to achieve the purpose of our lives. And that’s it for todays blog. Thank you!!

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No Man is an ISLAND🌴

Hey guys!! Wassup? Hows it going? Its Aes again for another blog. My last post talks about the philosophical perspective of the self and the three greek philosophers who made a significant breakthrough in the field of Philosophy. For this post, Im going to tackle about the sociological perspective of the self. Now according to the book, Understanding the Self, sociological perspective of the self is based on the assumption that human behaviour is influenced by group life. The looking glass self, by Charles Horton Cooley, describes the development of ones self and identity through interactions with others. In other words, we develop ourselves through socialising with others. And others create a huge impact based on our duties, goals, purpose, and our behaviours in life. If we surround ourselves with ambitious people, then we also become ambitious. But there are also several factors and concepts we should put into account. According to Mead, there are two divisions of the self, the I is the subjective element and the active side of the self while the Me is the objective element of the self. Im taking myself for example, You see me reading books so the I division is me reading that particular book while the Me division tells you that I want to acquire information this book. He also adds that the self passes through three stages of development: preparatory, play, and game. During preparatory stage, we as newborn infants gets influenced by the people around us either imitating their actions and the way we communicate. We're still at the role taking stage. Next is the play stage, where the self is developing, and by that I mean relating ourselves with others, and lastly the game stage where the self is now present and we begin to understand others. Other sociological perspective includes the continuous change of the self-identity due to the changing environment and all the prestige symbols society wants us to have. And that’s all for this blog. Thanks for reading!! Peace…

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Your CULTURE

Your IDENTITY

Hey!! Hows it going? Its great to see you again!! Last blog, I wrote about sociological perspective of the self and I also discuss how other people could influence your behaviour, attitude, and goals in life. Now for this blog, I’m going to talk about anthropological perspective of the self. Now what the hell is anthropology? According to our book, Understanding the self (again), anthropology is concerned with how cultural and biological processes interact to shape human experience. In other words, anthropology is the study of people and cultures. The concept of self through anthropology can be viewed in two ways, egocentric and sociocentric. I once read a sci-fi book and then the protagonist asked her mother , why do some people look exactly alike but they're not related at all, she answered to him that human nature are fascinating species who are sometimes moulded by God in the same way but acts or reacts differently, no matter how hard they try, I can relate that to egocentric because despite having the same face features, we all have different personalities and different reaction towards other people, objects, or behaviours. In sociocentric, the self is considered part of a contingent in a situation or social setting. Obtaining your name in all societies represent the self. Individuals who are part of a tribe can relate to anthropology because they are moulded by their tribe leader as they grow old physically and mentally. They are trained to be significant and to contribute to the rich history of their tribes. However, many individuals struggle to fit into the standards of their respective tribes so that’s why they tend to flee and try to find their own identity away from that particular tribe. And that is it for this blog, This is the anthropological perspective of the self. I hope you learned something and please do share this blog. Thank you so much!!

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BRAINY SELF

Hey!! Wassup? Hows it going? Now todays blog is all about Psychological Perspective of the Self. In my opinion, this topic is quite interesting because it involves our own psyche. Ive once thought of taking the psychology course but it’s a lot of work and far too expensive. Psychology has always intrigued me because its so astonishing how our minds work and why some people tend think so differently and why they do such certain things so this topic comes close to my heart. So William James concept of the self is the me-self and the i-self. The one responsible for the thinking is the I self and its also called the pure ego. While the Me-self refers to the physical body. now there are three types; the spiritual which refers your sub-conscious and values & it requires introspection the most, while the social self refers to how we socialise with other people, and the material self refers to material possessions and how we perceive them like iPhones, cars, money, and so much more. Sigmund Freuds construction of self and personality is similar to William James concept but freud included the superego which refers to conscience and moral judge. The super ego balances the ego and the id. The ego, according to freud is the angel, while he refers the id as the devil. The self is the central archetype that unites all parts of the psyche. Can you imagine if every person in the world has no self? We're definitely still gonna be like wild animals running around and no conscience not even a sign of intelligence. According to Rogers, the real self consists of all the ideas including the awareness of what one is and what one can do. The ideal self is the persons conception of what one should be or what one aspires to be which includes ones goals and ambition in life. If ideal self or real self gets outbalanced then a catastrophe of one self will neutralise. That is why we should always take care of ourselves. And that’s it for todays blog, I really enjoyed writing this and I hope you enjoyed reading this as well

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The West vs The East

Hey!! Whats up? Hows it going? So for our last blog, we talked about the psychological perspective of the self and how important it is to take care of ourselves and the different ways we perceive our identity through different concepts the psychologists offered for us. Now lets talk about the western and eastern concepts of self. Now it is safe to say that beliefs creates an identity for each individual. For me for example, I believe that God exists and he brought us his son Jesus Christ. He sacrificed his own son for the sake of the worlds sin. And he was soon resurrected and he seated at the right hand of God, his father. For us Roman catholics, if people accept him as our saviour by praying and sacrificing everything for him then we will be accepted into heaven. But for those who don’t, then they'll burn in hell for eternity. Some people get skeptical, but that is why it is important for us Christians to have faith. Some people in the Eastern part of the world believes in many things. They believe that their God is a cow, they believed that we are an extension of the cosmos, not of social relationship, and others believe that we must give up all material possessions to achieve inner peace. Now western thought favours a Rational-empirical approach over magical and superstitious explanation of things, including the self that is why conflict of beliefs are not so uncommon for many people these days. Some countries even raged war because of this. However, religion shouldn’t be the centre of our lives, it is through faith that could save us. We should all just accept that different people have different beliefs. My favourite part is the law of karma that explains the most important doctrine of Hinduism which implies that individual actions will lead to either good or bad outcomes in ones life. And that’s all for today, I hope you enjoyed reading this. Please share and stay tuned for more blogs. Peace!!

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PHYSICAL REALITY

Hey guys!! Welcome back to my blog!! For my last post, I talked about the last part of the understanding the self which is the self in various perspectives and I also wrote about the western and eastern concepts of the self which was solely based on beliefs in oneself and I also emphasised the word faith because in my religion we're very dependent on that concept. And now we're on the next part which is all about unpacking the self and Im going to start with different types of self. The physical self, sexual self, material self, spiritual self, political self, and digital self.

I'm going to start with physical self. So physical self refers to the body. Thick, thin, slim, fit, and so much more body types. The body's ability perform its functions gradually changes through the years. How we take care of our body is important. I advice you that while you're still young, drink as much water as you can and stay hydrated. You can thank me later. You ever notice the bar on top of your character when you play RPG games? Or mobile legends? They’re called life bar. In reality we call it life span which is the development from conception to death. Physical growth and development is the product of heredity. I know heredity is familiar to you once you've finished junior high. Now heredity is the biological process of the inheritance of traits from parents to offspring. Other concept include the environment which are the factors the individual is exposed to through out life which include learning and experiences.

Some people desperately change their physical appearance through body modifications. I just want to say, you dont have to do those type of modifications to your body, you're already beautiful inside and out. Your body image should be unique because unique is much more priceless than being pretty and beautiful. And that’s it for todays blog, thank you so much and ill see you next time!! Peace!!

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Sex Ed. with Aes

Hey guys!! Whats up?? Its nice to see you again!! For my last blog post, I wrote about the Physical self and how you should love your physical body and why its important for you to take care of it. So this next part of the unpacking the self is all about the sexual self. When our instructor Sir Dadis discussed about the sexual self, I heard a lot of snickering from my classmates. I understood why of course but I’ve always found the sexual self very intriguing because gender equality and the SOGIE bill has been a huge issue these days. Many people struggled to conform into the genders they've been put into like being masculine or feminine. To understand further, we have to start from the top layer of this issue. Now primary sex characteristics are the physical characteristics present at birth. These are what we call the genitals. The penis and the vagina. The secondary sex characteristics develops during puberty (at the age of 10-13 yrs of age) when enlargement of breast, developing pubic hair, and menstruation happens for females while males develop broader voice and Adams apple, pubic and facial hair starts to grow. Now there's this thing called the Erogenous Zone where certain parts have areas that can trigger pleasure and sensation to your body. It mostly happens when the self starts to develop attraction. Attraction is a positive attitude held by one person toward another person. Attraction gets deeper when both individuals are in love. Now there are three components of love; intimacy, passion, and commitment. Once attraction is strong, trust builds up and then comes the sexual intercourse which will build attachment towards the couple but many people fall from bad people and sometimes sexual intercourse could cause life-threatining situations towards an individual. Now it is safe to say that The government provided a bill for individuals looking for solutions with their problem. The RH law which guarantees universal access to methods of contraception, fertility control, sexual education, and maternal care. That is it for todays blog, if you enjoyed it please share and stay tuned for more blogs. Thank you!! Peace!!

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JUST A MATERIAL BOY

Good day!! Hows it going? Its great to see you again!! Its me again, writing a blog for all of you. Now for todays series of unpacking the self, Im going to talk about the material self. Now material self is already self explanatory. It is a persons tangible possessions like his or her car, home, clothes, even family, and friends make up his or her material self, according to the book. In other words, the material self are the material possession influenced by one self. Basically society concludes the social status or symbol a person acquires once they saw the prestige symbol one person could afford. Now according to William James, the self is everything that an individual considers to be his or hers, not only his or her body and material possessions but also his or her reputation and beliefs. It says that ones material possession has a huge manifestation of ones identity. If you see someone using an iPhone you can conclude that person could be rich because of the social status a person can afford. Materialism is the importance that people give to material possessions over intangible values. “Oh my god!! Is that the new iPhone 11?” “ I love your skirt, where did you get it??” “Is that the new Range Rover?? How fancy?!”. A materialistic person is excessively concerned with the acquisition of material possessions. Its basically people showing off their prized possession towards other people thinking that these material things can help them elevate their social status within the society. Now some people exaggeratedly buy material stuff just for the sake of buying stuff, now these people have what they call Compulsive Buying Disorder or CBD. These type of people are characterised by an obsession with shopping and buying behaviours. In conclusion, people can do whatever they want with their money, as long as they earned it themselves. And that is it for this blog, thank you so much and I hope you’ll share this blog. Thank you!! Peace!!

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Looking For InnerPeace

Hey!! Hows it going? Its great to see you again! Last blog, we talked about the material self and how material possessions are shaped by the society as our social status symbols. Our next topic inside the part 2 of unpacking the self is all about spiritual self. Now spirituality can be understood as a search and transcendent. The spiritual aspect of the self describes what the inner essence are truly made of. This inner essence has been with us ever since we were born and its super sacred that theres nothing that you can compare it of. That’s the reason why it is important for us to nurture ourselves so that our inner essence will grow to be healthy and strong, just like our body. The only difference is that the body naturally withers throughout our lifetime but our inner essence will remain intact. We christians use the term spirit to describe the Holy Spirit. We also worship and it is an essential act to realise the ultimate meaning of transcendence and human life. Acts of worships includes praying, reading the bible, attending sacraments, and doing sacrifices. Searching for the meaning of life by Viktor Frankl is a book he wrote about the horrible trauma he experience inside the Nazi Concentration Camp, he described the phases a prisoner enter. Frankl also said in his book that he develop logotheraphy and one can discover the meaning of life in three different ways; by doing a deed, by experiencing a value, and by suffering. Spirituality is also associated with animism. Animism is the belief that creatures, objects, and places represent certain spirits. There are certain tribes that practices animism, they treat inanimate objects as Gods and Goddesses. And that’s it for todays blog, I hope you enjoyed it cause I do, hehe. Thank you!! Peace!!

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#AESFERSON2029

Hey!! Hows it going? Its great to see you again!! Last blog, I talked about the spiritual self for our unpacking the self series, and how religion, animism, and searching for the meaning of life can acquire the inner essence of the self. Now I'm going to write about the Political self. As Aristotle tells us that "Man is by nature a political animal", the hierarchical structure of the family has a great influence of how the political self works. The father represents the strong figure who creates the rules of the entire family. But the political self doesn’t just get influenced by the family, it can also influence the school where the teachers sets some rules, and also inside the church where the priest tells its worshipers to repent from their sins and ask forgiveness to God. Politics is a central components of self, it teaches us manners and respect. It also disciplines us of the outcomes if we don’t take the consequences of our actions. In other words, political self gives us a sense of becoming responsible and also independent. But in order for governance to work in any group or society, a covenant of mutual trust and respect must exist. Creating a relationship towards other people is hard, especially if you’re a very difficult person to be with. For us to be able to become an effective leader, we must also relate, trust, and respect each others individual perspectives in life for us to achieve a goal. The theory of symbolic interaction suggests that behaviours are products of communication, meaning, and symbols. For us to become effective leaders we must communicate, define, and work effectively so any concern in the government will be done completely. And that is all for this blog, thank you much and ill see you next time!! Peace!!

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The Digital World is Ours

Hey!! Whats up? Hows it going? Its great to see you again!! Now we're finally at our last topic for the unpacking the self series. Our previous topic was about how the political self is the central component of the self and these concepts like family, school, and church help influence our political self. For my last blog, I'm going to talk about the digital self. Among 2019, the use of digital technology has now become part of the self—the digital self. Taking selfies, watching vlogs in youtube, tweeting in your SNS. Any form of social engagement is part of your digital self And any form of online interactions are part of your digital self. Now so many youth cant seem to let go of the use of technology. They think its essential for the individuals survival and for communication with other people. Now to think about it, you cant even read this blog if it wasn’t for your digital self. Your digital self helped you get into this phase as you read this blog. It is that huge of a deal l. Now when you think of digital technology, you think of phones, laptops, and desktop computers, that’s because digital technology includes all types of electronic equipment and applications that use information in the form of numeric codes. Even through gaming like MOBA games, you could still channel your digital self. Now did you know that the Philippines has the fastest growing internet population in Southeast Asia? That’s why youtubers have been popping out recently and even celebrities join this hype of social interaction coz why not? You can earn as much as 1,000,000 pesos just by recording yourself to the camera while eating, that’s called mukbang!! But people has become abusive recently when it comes to social media sites by leaking sex scandals and revealing fake news and wrong information towards the netizens, giving these public figures the wrong image. The Data Privacy Act helps the government authority track down these malicious netizens who keeps on cyberbullying others. My advice is keep safe and don’t overshare in the internet. And that is all for this blog!! I hope you liked it. Please reblog and thank you so much for reading!! Peace!!