h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

*gets herself a cup of tea then floats over to a lazy b*****d chair and settles down with her kindle* I'm reading about the Medici family. Fascinating.

It's still smoldering summer here, Eats! I could use some Autumn, should you care to chuck some colored leaves and coolth over here.

mini, hang in there, and I'm still sending good essay vibes your way.

Lil, that was one twisted family, have fun!

Night all.

Only if you send me the rest of your summer SC! Rain again to start this morning off. Hoping it'll dry somewhat as the day progresses. We'll see.
Hints on some leaves now that the summer is turning. It's been a poor summer. Normally up here it would be very dry, but this year has mimicked the last and been wet more days than not.

We had a downright cold winter, a cold-ish spring and the early part of summer was more springlike. Then, about 3 weeks ago, someone turned the heat up. When I took the wheelie bin out tonight it was just starting to be cool. Of course, I blame 2 legs.

*currently the owner of 2 plastic teeth*

If all else isn't to blame then it must be 2Legs' fault. Quite sensible I think (no not 2Legs, he isn't most of the time).

The summer seems to have gone away for a bit here. Yesterday it was warm but humid, now it is cooler and a bit damp and tomorrow I go down to Nodnol to spend the afternoon and evening drinking in a large concrete barn of a place which will be too hot, it always is.

Oh look the library, for a change. At least I have two essays done and only one 1500 word essay to go.

couldn't get hold of dad yesterday for an update on mum. but when I do get one I will post to my journal.

mini

Good going, Mini. What's the last one supposed to be on?

“To have a sense of self and an understanding of self-identity is a means of orientation in the entire social space of Western modernity. In this space we orient our actions with one another by trying to gauge other selves: who they are and what they are thinking and feeling.”

Burkitt, I (2008) Social Selves: Theories of Self and Society. London:Sage. [p. 27.]

Explain how Burkitt’s statement provides a useful way into considering the social construction of selves and how this differs from the notion of the self as an ‘inner’ psychological entity.


Which I have broken down to these 5 mini questions

What are the key ideas, what am I talking about?
What is the social construction of selves?
What is the self as an inner psychological entity?
How is the inner self, different from the sociological self?
How does Burkitt’s statement help us to look at the self sociologically?

although i have kinda already answered them, my count of words is only at 250 rather than the expected 1500. I think I may have to inject some filler and waffle to increase my word count

mini

Oh and Happy Birthday Happy Nerd!

mini

>>> How is the inner self, different from the sociological self?
>>> How does Burkitt’s statement help us to look at the self sociologically?

Are any of your 250 words dedicated to the almost obsessive Western need to self-identify in terms of career? Might be able to squeeze a little ink there, if it isn't off-topic.

yeah i should probably mention the whole self obsessed western nature.

meh, it's too early in my head for this. Yeah I know it's already 1pm and the library is only open till 4 so I may as well slog it out.

I am seriously tempted to hand in the 250 word version though.

mini

right I have officially Gone Silly (tm)

Self in western modernity, why is it important?
Because everyone wants to be able to say they work harder, better faster and stronger. We are self-obsessed in western modernity.

So what conclusions can we draw?
A dinosaur?

mini

Animal insticnt that isn't much different from the young bull or wolf, ... I have to make my mark in the world sort of thing.

Most of us grow past that somewhere between the 40's and 70's.

[GDZ]

>>Self in western modernity, why is it important?
>>Because everyone wants to be able to say they work harder, better faster and stronger. We are self-obsessed in western modernity.

Hmm. We are also raised to believe/condition to accept that our self-worth is dependent on our productivity and our paycheck. A jobless American is an unhappy beast, because at the end of the day, he or she cannot answer the question, 'And what do you *do*?'

The United States manipulates statistics to hide the fact that 1 out of 6 Americans is out of work currently. The official number is artificially kept below 10% because it is believed there would be widespread panic if the general public knew how high the figure is. Nonetheless, the suicide rate appears to be tied to the actual jobless rate, even if it is not broadly published, or even easily found.

The question of identity is especially trying for female half of society. Society continually judges how a woman ought to define herself, whether she choose career, family, or a bit of both. Or even if the choice is more or less thrust upon her. I once grabbed the fluttering hands of a woman as she had launched into a defensive explanation of how many jobs motherhood entailed. 'I know. I do know. Being a mother is a full-time job,' I reassured her. 'Not everybody sees it that way,' she said, much more calmly.

She was younger than I, and I had by that time long since grown tired of being asked to explain why I had defied God's plan for me. I was even tired of giving flippant answers, such as, 'But He said to go forth and multiply, so I majored in Math.' (Incidentally, I have been reliably informed, by a minister no less, that I'm going to burn for eternity. I can't remember if it was for defying God's will or for sacrilege.)

At the lower end of the economic strata, where paychecks are small, everyone wants to be able to say they work harder. Somewhere in the middle, everyone wants to be able to say they work better and faster, as evidenced by their possessions and paycheck size, ignoring for the moment the difference of value and worth. Self-identity starts being associated with earning power, so that hedge-fund managers feel smugly superior to firefighters, teachers, and nurses.

>>> I have to make my mark in the world sort of thing.

Ah, yes, the old 'must make my first million by age 40' thing.

I *totally* missed that.

I like to answer "what do you do" with "a lot of things, including many that I cannot discuss in polite company"...

One of the most hurtful things that was said to me in 2009, when I was coming down with this condition what I got, was "You really could be looking harder for work, couldn't you?"