Quote:

I had to go with YES on this one...but only on a minor technicality



you see:

who I am is someone that changes who they are to adapt to their environment (I call it the mirror coat concept)

the idea is that:
when I'm around pseudochristians - I become all holier then though
when I'm around african americans - I become a wigger
when I'm around preppies - I become stuck up
I adapt to my surroundings



but this is something I have always done...so *technically* nothing's ever really changed for me when you get right down to it

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Anonymous #5 said:

Anonymous #1 said:

Anonymous #4 said:

Nope, not me. I am ever-changing as are most people.

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So who are you, then? Do you only change when it benefits you socially, or do you have other reasons?

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I change because I feel the need to, which always benefits me. Not socially per-say, but spiritually, physically, psychologically. If it happens to benefit me socially as well, so be it.

Example: Working out daily. This has caused me to stick to a more strict schedule, so that I may get everything done that I need to, but has made me healthier physically and  I'm often happier (mentally healthy). It has also had the side effect of improved looks, which makes for a social improvement. Though that was not the original goal.

The only changes I have made for social reasons are my haircut and the fact that I shave often. I used to have long hair and not shave for weeks or months at a time. It didn't bother me, but other people found it strange. I changed it mostly for employment purposes.

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You're talking a lot about personal things, and that's good, but I wanted to focus more on personality, and how you perform socially around others.

Anonymous #10 said:

anon 1, im bipolar, so that social anxiety has been stuck with me ever since i was born.

i remember that i would NEVER talk to anyone in kindergarden, even classmates except when i desperately needed help. I would actually talk to the teachers more than any classmate. ironic, huh? it's actually stuck with me until junior year..thats when i was like "ahhh, im bored. gonna meet new people"

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So do you have lots of friends now and a satisfying active social life?

Anonymous #12 said:

yeah, i had a major personality change around the time i started using psychedelics. i became much more introverted. i'm nearly sober now, but that has stuck with me a little.

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Has becoming more introverted improved or harmed your life?

Anonymous #13 said:

I had to go with YES on this one...but only on a minor technicality



you see:

who I am is someone that changes who they are to adapt to their environment (I call it the mirror coat concept)

the idea is that:

• when I'm around pseudochristians - I become all holier then though
  
• when I'm around african americans - I become a wigger
  
• when I'm around preppies - I become stuck up
  

I adapt to my surroundings



but this is something I have always done...so *technically* nothing's ever really changed for me when you get right down to it 

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This is exactly the type of response I was waiting for, good job!

So basically, you have different personalities that correspond to different social situations, am I correct? Does doing this benefit you?

Anonymous #8 said:

Even apes do that.

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Hmm, that's pretty interesting.

Anonymous #6 said:

my mother calls that being a "social chameleon"

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Chameleons camouflage themselves because it benefits them to do so, so is this why social chameleons do this? Would being a social chameleon mean that you are a fake person, or that you just show different aspects of yourself when you're around different people?

Anonymous #1 said:

So basically...you have different personalities that correspond to different social situations, am I correct?

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Anonymous #1 said:

Does doing this benefit you?

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most definitely

being able to conform to my surroundings helps to put those that I am with at the time more at ease...simply because they feel more comfortable within their own natural environment, and my being there doesn't go against whatever sort of person they just so happen to be (consider, if you will, just how reluctant a druggie would be to open up about things they've done while in the presence of somebody who would likely try an intervene for their own good)

and the beautiful thing about it is that so many people out there spend so much of their time putting on a show for others, that the only time they ever open up to reveal who they really are at their core - is when they're around people they are comfortable with...which...puts me in the position where I get to see so many different types of people for who they truly are, and I get a much more in-depth understanding of many different types of personalities as a whole

the main reason I do what I do, in fact, is simply so that I *can* understand the people I spend time with on a much deeper level then I probably would have been able to had I just simply approached them as yet another random individual they likely have very little in common with to begin with (which, now that I think of it, actually works double fold on my behalf simply because by doing what I do - I also get the chance to experience so many different aspects of our existence fist hand...and I get the opportunity to expand upon who I am as an individual with each new experience)

so I guess you can say that this works on multiple levels simultaneously 

Anonymous #1 said:

But does being a social chameleon mean that you are a fake person, or that you just show different aspects of yourself when you're around different people?

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I would assume it could *probably* be either/or...depending on how you play your cards

if all you ever did was put on a false facade for others so that you'd never have to develop any kind of a personality of your own - then yeah - you'd most definitely be doing more harm to yourself then good

...BUT...

if you do what *I* do and take a little something out of each new experience you encounter - then you're actually expanding your own social repertoire with each new social scene that you learn to acclimate yourself to...much in the same way asa 'jack-of-all-trades' is continually picking up on new abilities (or whatever) so that they'll be more of an asset to both themselves and to others

life is about continually one-upping yourself...in all things you do

I just have more experience in the social end of things