George Herbert Mead had a mildly complex idea of how and why
we act and say the things that we do in our society. His complex of the self,
the I, and the me are all different ways in how we act so we can follow suit
with social norms. Meads idea of the I is the first unconscious thought that slips
into a person’s head. An example of this would be when your boss gives you a senseless
job; you may at first think of some choice words for him/her but deicide not to
vocalize these first thoughts because
this could hurt your chances of being liked and possibly a promotion just like
the example of “Liar Liar” in class. The concept of the Me is what stops a
person from just blurting out that earlier thought. This is the filter that
people have so then they can follow social norms and not be singled out because
of saying something that would be embarrassing, inappropriate or hurtful. This
concept is very similar to that of Freudian theory with his concept of the Ego
and the Super ego. Here the ego is the same as the I. It is the first thought
or the first action that comes into a person’s head. Normally this is more of
an excitement reaction or more of an impulsive action. Many people with ADHD
have been said to have a separation between the me and the I which leads them
to do impulsive acts. The Me is like a person’s super ego, this gives a person
the ability to step back from the unconscious initial thought and put it into
more logical understanding. Mead also talked about the generalized other. This
concept brings to light the idea that we are consciously aware of another
person’s awareness of us. Here we think about how other people perceive us from
an emphasis of the “me” being our filter to make sure others perceive us positively.
Unfortunately the fact that we all have a “Me” is the same aspect that we get
low self-esteem or self-confidence. When we say something without the me the generalized
other kicks in and we automatically know we did/said something outside the
social norm and now anxiety kicks in.
This is an example of how the Me and I take over in
different social situations.
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