A quote that I thought was interesting from A Passage to India:
"we exist not in ourselves, but in terms of each others' minds"
Thoughts? True/false? I think I disagree. I feel as though I have at least a small sense of myself that is unrelated to how others perceive me, though I agree that a large part of our self-identity is influenced by how we are perceived/wish to be perceived.
Anyways, the book was great. I highly recommend it.
it seems to me there is some truth to this statement, insomuch as we rely on feeling like we exist via the reflection we receive from others. as a kid, our entire world is validated by our parents. our later emotional health depends on their accurate mirroring back to us our experience (happy, sad, you stood up all by yourself!, etc). as we mature, we look to our peers, our co-workers, partners, therapists for this reflection. we need to have our experiences reflected back to us for them to feel real, to feel as though the "we" that experiences actually exists. and without an "other", what "we" is there?... that being said, i very much agree with your response. there is a part of us that exists independent of any outside reflection. this is our True self, that exists outside of human limitation and subjective reality.
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