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CHAPTER 11 DIGITAL SELF

There are lots of internet users nowadays but, there are only few who acknowledge the presence of their digital self which is for me the very crucial part of the self in today’s era.

               Digital self is how and what you portray online. It is what we are inside the digital world. All these technology has come so fast that we have not  had our time to think how our relationship to it would shape our identity. Websites freely asks about our basic information which is very risky since we are very prone to be attacked. There are numerous contributions the internet can provide but, with all the details we give them it is also one of the dangerous platform we may encounter. Having your digital self comes with some consequences. We are prone to identity theft wherein someone will stand out as you. He will use your identity to satisfy his/her desires. We are also prone to  false information and fake news. News have wings nowadays , it can travel instantly from one end of the world  to the other.

               We are the one who is responsible for our online safety. Do not just accept terms and condition ,read it. Do not share your personal details immediately. Never post anything about  future travels or vacations. Do not reply or click links from suspicious emails. By these simple safety measures you can improve your safety. And I would like to take this moment to thank you sir Raul Dadis Jr. for sharing your knowledge and wisdom!  I pray that  the Lord will give you all your hearts desire! Thankyou so much sir I highly appreciated  all your efforts sir. SALAMAT JUD KAAYU =)

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CHAPTER 10 POLITICAL SELF

The Political Self is that the conceptually discrete categories of inner and outer in reality constantly interact, shape, and inform each other. This chapter starts out with policy description. It includes concepts about political system, social interaction, and citizenship It also defines political self and describes the effect of family , school, church, peers, and media on political self growth.

              Politics is an important component of human progress since it fosters ideas regarding democracy, equality , human rights, liberty, culture , health and other social issues. I learned that  even in our own homes we practice politics. I  admire how the reporters deliver their reports. Politics acts as the process through which individuals develop control and recognize the proper functioning as members of a democratic society.  One must develop their political self . Since  it embodies people's values and expectations, represents State laws and standards, and defines people 's position and strength.

              I can say we are so lucky that we are under a democratic country. Democracy is the idea introduced by ancient Greeks, it is a form of government in which the supreme authority is bestowed upon and exercised by the people, directly or indirectly, through a system of representation which typically includes freely contested elections on a regular basis. Through the  freedom we have, we can exercise our political rights and be able to develop our political self.

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CHAPTER 9 THE SPIRITUAL SELF

The word "spiritual" refers to that core component of you — your innermost self —- that gives you a deep sense of who you are, where you came from, where you're going, and how you can accomplish your intent. Enables the individual to feel a sense of unity with a higher being and the universe, and gives a deeper purpose or meaning to one's existence .

               I loved how the reporters gave their knowledge about this topic. I learned that one should make their spiritual self the center of their living. It   will allow us to seek the meaning of our existence and understand why we suffer. The quest for Life's purpose is about discovering what     one's life as a whole really means. What goals and targets should a life represent. In order to strengthen your spiritual self you can be part a religion. A structured collection of ideas concerning the spiritual or supernatural realm along with related ceremonial activities. All religion recognized the spirituality in one's life. These organization will help you with your faith struggles. Some groups of people has been practicing animism. A belief that perceives all things, animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and perhaps even words as animated and alive.

               Here in the Philippines , I am glad that  the people have strong believe in God. Through the influence of Christianity brought by the Spaniards, people in different islands united to praise one God. Even though there are so many denomination, it still never devalue our faith with God. To the readers, I humbly ask to respect other religion. There is no good cause to debate whose religion is better. Remember we all share the same thought ; respect our God, help those in need and do good deeds all the time.

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CHAPTER 8 THE MATERIAL SELF

 All the elements which represent who you are is part of your material self E.g possessions, cars, family, health, clothing. Self is made up of a material self that manifests one 's identity through material possessions

               In my opinion the material self is the only part of the self which I found the most inequalities. Because a person cannot decide or freely choose a position  his/her socio-economic status. Some are born poor  so, they must work wise and hard to be able to achieve and own  more possessions. Some are born rich , and we cannot blame them to be a well fed child because it is the result of  his/her parents’ hard work. Some people with enormous amount of money tend to  buy more excessively and most likely to practice materialism which for me is okay since, they had worked hard for their money. The only thing I do not like about  being a materialistic person is when you are forcing your self to buy expensive thing even if your family is struggling to budget the money they have. In my view media has influenced a lot of people to buy impractical things. People  experience happiness after having or purchasing valuable items however, the lack or loss of material possessions can disrupt one's mental health, such as people losing their homes, and other possessions because of disasters or calamities.

               People are seeking for a  good job that earns multi-digit salary , investment for the security of their future and many fancy things in life. But for me a person must learn to be satisfied of they had, this does not mean that one must end his job or stop dreaming high but, just to remind you its to remind you to celebrate life , get the time to get along with your family instead of spending time at work just to give your dream life a reality. It is okay to take a break and for a moment stop thinking about having your prestige possessions. Some say material possessions can be a reflection of their hard work and success . People tend to evaluate success by the amount of items they possess, thus being a driving force in encouraging a person to seek out a high level of achievement to obtain more possessions, but still it is in one’s self evaluation  to determine your success, it’s only you who can tell whether you’re successful or not. Besides, it is your life anyway.

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CHAPTER 7 THE SEXUAL SELF

Sexual self-concept refers to the essence of self as a sexual being, including ideas and emotions that are positive and negative. The definition of sex is apparently purely biological at first glance. The word 'sex,' however, has a deeper non-scientific significance which is highly important when combined with the imprimatur of science.

               This chapter is very essential to people especially for us teenagers. It helps individual to understand how sex is related to intimacy and relationships. I can say that you can develop as a person also by developing and understanding your sexual self.  Male and female are distinguished through their primary sex characteristics which consists of the following: testicles, penis ,scrotum, vas deferens and prostate gland for the male while, for the female are, vagina, cervix, uterus, fallopian tubes, clitoris and ovaries. The said primary sex characteristics are also the reproductive organs. People should give importance in keeping their selves safe from STI/Ds (sexually transmitted infections/diseases) because  premarital sex is now prominent in this current  time. It is better to use condoms and other contraceptives in order to avoid unplanned pregnancies. For me its better to not have sex at all.

               I am very glad that this chapter included love and other forms of relationships for us to have a better view of it. We have been able to distinguish the meaning of attraction, love and attachment. As teenagers develop they make new patterns of relationships and responsibilities with other people and evolve, while these new patterns of relationships can change as they evolve. But people have different preferences with  regards on choosing their love ones  that is why we have these so called sexual orientation. In my view everyone must be treated equally since we are all human beings and sexual orientation does not degrade a person.

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CHAPTER 6 THE PHYSICAL SELF

Physical self refers to the body, this wonderful container, and this intricate, finely tuned, system with which we communicate with our world and fellow beings. The Physical Self is the concrete dimension, the visible element of the individual which can be identified and examined directly.

               Physical self-concept is the understanding of the man regarding himself in fields of physical skill and appearance. A person can grow and develop but, these growth and development can be hindered or aided by heredity and environment or the person is exposed to. Physical capacity encompasses terms such as physical strength and stamina while beauty refers to appearance. According to some beliefs you can determine an individual’s personality through examining their physical appearance but, I think it is not reasonable to judge an individual’s personality solely on how they look, since you do not really know a person’s background. 

 A person can be degraded or patronize through their physical appearance. That is why people tend to maintain a good body image. This body image can help a person to elevate his/her self evaluation or his/her self-esteem. Self esteem helps a person to boos his/her confidence and helps a person to be more productive and lively since he/she is in his/her optimal state of self evaluation.

               Individuals prefer to assess people by their appearance. However just the superficial appearance is not adequate to determine the true character of a human. It is important to look into the inner thoughts and feelings of an entity. Being beautiful at the inside is more critical than anything physical. Mirrors lie they do not show the inner you.

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CHAPTER 5 WESTERN & EASTERN CONCEPT of the SELF

There two different views for the concept of the self namely, the western and the eastern philosophical views of the self. This chapter discussed how these two views  the self, what are their differences and how do they live with it.

               In the western concepts of the self, it viewed as analytic and monotheistic. I learned that western concept focuses more in individual approaches of the self. People faces the coexistence of favorable and unfavorable conditions inherent in personal freedom. In western concept of the self people  anchors their beliefs in material things and accounts rational-empirical approach rather than magical and unbelievable explanation.

In eastern beliefs, philosophy is accounted to religion. Eastern view believes all are linked to one another and to the universe .However the self is also viewed as an illusion in Eastern philosophy. That is, in Eastern thinking, the belief that individuals are distinct entities from one-another and the universe is not considered a reality.

               The key distinctions between the school of thought or East and West philosophies are the individualism of the West, and the collectivism of the East. The Eastern philosophy is drawn even further into communities or culture or the acts and thoughts of people as one to find meaning in life as they seek to get rid of the false idea of self and find meaning in finding the real self .

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CHAPTER 4: PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE of the SELF

“Human beings are always  striving for self—fulfillment and self-actualization” according to Carl Rogers. Now let us dig in more into this topic as I share my understandings in this topic.

               What I had learned about this lesson is that an individual is composed of two different self, the “I” self and the “me” self.  The “I” self reflects the thinking self which is not seen and it is what a persons true character it. The “me” self on the other hand is obliged to follow the strict conduct of social roles. The “me” self talks about how a person should act socially, it is composed of the person’s material desire, social self and its spiritual self. Every individual strives hard  for them to achieve what they want. A person is viewed as a central archetype which means being a universal model or a totality of a person. It is composed of 4 major archetypes ; persona, shadow, animus and the self. I had learned that it is very hard to co-exist with other individuals specially when following social roles. Each individual has different dreams and ambition in life because we all have this pleasure seeking side.

               We all develop in life as an individual but, we differ in ways in developing our selves.  People may think that we share the same end point in developing but we don’t. If a child  is carefully taken care he may develop trust in his infant days but if not, he may impart mistrust in his/her heart. One can develop autonomy others may develop shame and doubt . Instead initiative , some develops guilt. Some may work with industry, others make it to inferiority.  Some people successfully developed their  identity some find it confusing. Others experience intimacy, some faces isolation. Some prospers with generativity ,others suffers from stagnantation. These are the down sides of the psychosocial development, one may be successful others may be battling from a languishing defeat. So therefore, for this topic I had come to a promise that I will make may life count, make it useful and I will give my every shot at everything in order to flourish life with “INTEGRITY “not “DESPAIR”. And that is how I’ll achieve self-actualization.

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CHAPTER 3 AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL CONCEPTUALIZATION of SELF THE SELF as EMBEDDED in CULTURE

How does people look through the biological nature of the self? In this chapter I had learned how culture cultivates and develops a personality.

               I agree to the idea of Edward Tyler that culture is not merely traditions but rather as a complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, laws and custom. Culture provides patters for “the way of life” which then is shared throughout the region.  I had learn in this chapter that culture constitutes the self. In most culture,  construction of the self starts by naming a child .Your name usually relates to your culture for example here in the Philippines  most of the people here are named after the roman catholic saint, which then showcase on how  religious Philippines as a country is.

               Individuals must overcome numerous numbers of obstacles in order to achieve your true identity. In times like this where diverse culture is prominent, people have common identity struggles. But all I can say is never degrade your culture because it mirror’s your self.

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CHAPTER 2 SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE: THE SELF as a PRODUCT of SOCIETY

               “Does society affect how a person acts?” this is one of my questions upon discussion of the self.  Before, I thought that the self is being developed only by the person but I proved it wrong.

               In this chapter I recognized how sociology affects people’s behavior. In my thoughts, people nowadays are greatly influenced by their surroundings especially the media. Through the easy access of the internet people tend to see and be able to patronize other’s culture. However,  in this current accessibility  the attainment of the self is freely chosen no one would dictate what you will do. In the theory of George Herbert Mead of the social self is based on the viewpoint that the self arises from social experiences, such as witnessing and communicating with others, listening to the opinions of others about themselves, and internalizing outward perceptions and inner feelings about oneself.

                According  to Gery Lanuza post modern society individuals tend to have more free will in choosing their authentic core since they are no longer restricted by customs and tradition.  For me this is really true because of  the easy access of internet people most likely would disregard cultural customs and tradition and this relates to the idea of Jean Baudrilliard that that mass media and cultural practices of advertising greatly influence the behavior of a person.

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CHAPTER 1: PHILOSOPICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE SELF

Knowing the self, what are the possible reasons why people have different personalities, identifying and understanding different ideas of various philosophers; these are just some of the benefits I had after Sir Raul discussed chapter 1.

               I caught so many learnings in chapter 1 about what the self really is. Life’s meaning had been a task of artists, theologians, and philosophers. People would exert great effort and run errands in finding one and same goes for elaborating the self. It has been a great topic for the brilliant philosophers and it’s quite a debate for me on whose idea to believe and follow but, after some critical analysis I found the idea of Sigmund Freud’s “Multi-layered Self” more agreeable. I can say that he is totally right since we all act administered by social roles our deep thoughts are hidden and mostly these thoughts genuinely reflects our true personality.

               Yet, it is still based on one’s perspective on whose or what idea to believe. That is the only characteristic that distinguish man from all creatures, we decide on our selves we do not let anyone dictate us. Who we really want to be, what we want to become and how we view our self  these questions are intriguing . I am certain that these questions will all be answered after we can finally UNDERSTAND OUR SELVES.