It's not meant to be answered through a long analysis of past actions, but is more a way of accessing a simple, gut-level reaction. The assumption is that we all have an intuitive pulse over a "core self," a natural, healthy, comfortable self, and by going through these exercises (e.g. describing the course of action with a few adjectives out loud and comparing them to our self-description), we can feel that pulse.Well, why make that assumption? (I'm especially amused by the idea that our 'core' person is natural, healthy and comfortable) Anyway the point I was making that you're really talking about what kind of person you'd like to be in this case.
Something like procrastination would presumably not feel as if it's part of that core self. It would feel like the reaction to a bad fit between the core self and the situation, not part of the core itself.
The first time I contributed to NPR, it was because of an Ira Glass pitch on This American Life where said something to the effect of, "Who do you want to be -- do you want to be the kind of person who supports public radio, or the kind of person who listens and never contributes?" For some reason, phrasing it that way was totally compelling to me in a way that "please donate" or "you should give" wasn't.I dunno man, the answer to the question of what "the kind of person who supports public radio" is involves a lot of, like, sweaters.
Bush once told an elementary-school class in Crawford, Texas, “Is it hard to make decisions as president? Not really. If you know what you believe, decisions come pretty easy. If you’re one of these types of people that are always trying to figure out which way the wind is blowing, decision making can be difficult. But I find that I know who I am. I know what I believe in.” For Bush, making decisions is an identity question: Who am I? The answer turns Presidential decisions into foregone conclusions: I am someone who believes in the dignity of life, I am the protector of the American people, I am a loyal boss, I am a good man who cares about other people, I am the calcium in the backbone. This sense of conviction made Bush a better candidate than the two Democrats he was fortunate to have as opponents in his Presidential campaigns. But real decisions, which demand the weighing of compelling contrary arguments and often present a choice between bad options, were psychologically intolerable to the Decider. They confused the identity question.posted by Sutekh at 8:22 AM on September 13, 2011 [2 favorites]
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posted by aparrish at 7:27 AM on September 12, 2011 [33 favorites]