01/18/2024
I Am What I Think I Am
In everyday terms, this should be a highly popular opinion. On a basic level, it doesn’t matter whether you are, say, an optimist or a pessimist.
To be more exact, it is who I think I am. On another level, this statement can be one of agency. Since I am what I think I am, why not just think differently? Think positive, and I will become positive!
Unfortunately , for a majority of us, our mindset is “You are not what you think you are. So who are you? I Am What You Think I Am.
In everyday terms, this should be highly unpopular. It’s obvious. No one will celebrate knowing that they are a mere product of others’ opinions. If you go to class and the class bullies taunt you all day, thinking you are worthless, are you then worthless? The sad reality is that we may grow to believe it. But we shouldn’t.
I Am What I Think You Think I Am
Perfect demonstration of how we can read all kinds of meanings into things which do not exist.
The focus in on one’s interpretation of others’ opinions. If you think I am stupid, that doesn’t necessarily make me stupid. If I believe your opinion is valid, then I will end up behaving in ways which reinforce that opinion. This would mirror the 2nd case (“I am what you think I am”). But if I believe your opinion is invalid, that you are just being difficult or jealous or have it difficult at home, then I will behave rather differently.
The latter case does not mirror the 1st case (“I am what I think I am”). Rather, the possibilities are quite endless. Depending on how I perceive your opinions, and how I perceive you as a person, I may ignore you, try to prove you wrong, try to put you down where you put me down, or try to show my other qualities. I may talk to my friends for support, talk to teachers and parents for advice, or talk to you or your friends to understand what’s going on.
In all of these, I am still responding to the problem that you posed, with your harsh opinion. I am never completely free. But even within this constraint, there are many possibilities. Whether these possibilities narrow or expand will depend on the responses of you and me, but more so how we each interpret the other’s intentions.
Therefore: “I am not what I think I am, and I am not what you think I am. I am what I think you think I am.” My favorite quote!
It’s all in our minds, and how we balance the world and how the world balances us
