Aside from answering the question “Tara san tayo kakain?” what else is diffucult?

Well
its really a hard question, but it’s nothing when compared to this “What is the self?” When we
are asked about the self we cannot answer it in a short amount of time. Most of us has a hard
time thinking about what the self is really. The definition of the self is different for every
person. Every person has their own perspective. In this dissertation, the self would be
constructed by our perspective of it. In our way of thinking, the self is a very wide topic and we
cannot box it into one idea like how the other philosophers did. Most of the philosophers
focused on the subjectivity of the self. This ended up producing a lot of philosophies over their
time, however we cannot deny the fact that their beliefs has a lot of flaws. As 21 st century
persons, we would like more to use a more objective view in creating a concept of the self.
In our perspective the self could be defined by looking at various factors and views. In
our perspective we define the self as a conundrum of esoterica, a problem only a few can
understand. The self is born as a complex being, it is comprised of the person and the character.
The person in this sense is the vessel, the “human being”. The character on the other hand, is
the interchangeable “mask” worn by the person. The self in this context becomes a “user” with
the person as its “joystick”, navigating through a game called life and assuming roles or
personalities through its chosen character “mask’. The self in this perspective is constant, only
having the ability to change its used mask.
The self is adaptable by nature, it can change its character given a certain situation or
environment. This change is completely dictated by the self. Thus, in certain situations, the self
may not choose to change. This exemplifies that the self is the head of its own existence.
Furthermore this exhibits that the self incorporates within its being a form of ego. The ego in
this sense works as either a defense mechanism where the self views a change as unnecessary;
or either as of purely unintellectual pride where the self  is viewed as superior.
The self in our perspective is the perceiver within its vessel in the material plane, where
it perceives actualities and eventualities. The self can interact with these and has the ability to
act upon it by its will. The self presents in its being immense capabilities, it can forsee possible
events that may occur in its surrounding. This is because the self is naturally an intellectual, in
its birth and death, it continuous to learn from its environment.
Now let us define the environment of the selves. The world is the expansive communal
playground of the self. It is where the self interacts with other selves. Furthermore, it is where
the self fully assumes its character. In this communal playground a conglomeration of selves is
formed and with this society is born. Society constitutes the selves as a community, it forms
various subjective and objective norms that sets standards for how the self must live. However,
these are but social constructs. For example, “perfection”, this is a social construct that implies
a specific standard to the self, viewing all the best variables as present in a self. This is fallacious
as “perfection” is relative in this perspective, one does not require the affirmation of another
self to determine perfection, this is because the self can be viewed as perfect in itself.
The self lives within its person for the duration of its existence. It journeys through the
material plane through its vessel. It acts with regards to its environment, it changes when it is
deemed necessary, and it becomes who it wants to be. The self is born with a discretionary
obligation to determine its purpose. It spans the entirety of its existence, and to know if the self
would achieve its obligation in the end is inconceivable as it is the final chapter of the self’s
existence, only each individual self would know if it was successful or not.
The self can be factioned into different groups with varying perceptions and norms. The
self may choose to be more of a scholar, an intellectual who yearns to learn to its extent. It can
choose to be a simple entity playing a blissful life. Moreover, the self may choose to be a self for
others, taking into consideration its environment and the other selves in its surrounding more
than itself, showing a form of “selflessness”. The self can also choose to be more of a law
abiding self, conforming to the societal norms and traditions; enacting upon itself and other
selves justice and order. Furthermore, the self can choose to be more bold and act as a “free”
individual, seizing moments as they come upon it. Lastly, because of the self-governing itself
solely, the self may choose to be any of the factions even all of them. This would show the most
adaptable self, increasing its chances of achieving its goal in playing life.
The self is a social being, it has the ability to take part in interactions with its
environment and with its peers. This ability enables the self to acknowledge other selves and let
those other selves be of significance or non-significance in terms of influencing the self. Despite
of its beneficial impact to the self in constructing a character, it clouds the self’s vision of its
truest self. Obscuring its chances of determining its purpose in playing life, to know thy true
self.
Various factors then constitute the self in its person, the first factor is the genes, every
person has their own structure of genes that makes their selves different from the others. For
instance, a person is born with down syndrome disease, the person then has a view that is
different from the normal person and that makes the person different from other persons. In
this case we propose that the self is different in each person, there is no “the same”.
The second factor is gender, sometimes the self is dependent on gender. Boys have
different perspectives and views in life compared to girls. The behaviour, roles, images and the
general social expectations are very different from the two genders. For example, boys are
more showy than girls, because girls are being taught since childhood about conservatism, but
when it comes to expressing of feelings girls are better than boys. At times parents set
standards of what their children should do that suits their gender and that becomes a
foundation of the Self. Furthermore, Age is also a factor that influences the Self. The image
that you have of yourself today will not be the same that you reflect on when you are 40, 60 or
90 years old. Your physical, intellectual, emotional and social changes will affect self-concept as
time goes by.
The third factor is Culture and tradition especially inside families, as persons grow up
their biological parents teach their offspring the family’s culture and tradition this can also be a
basis of the self’s creation and development, for example, a person grows up in a family with a
culture of being conservative and that person has a classmate that grew up in a family where
western culture is adapted, just because the person is a conservative person, he does not want
to become friends with the other person. There are also times that the self is adaptive, for
example, if a person is conservative and became friends with a liberated person, the person
might also become a conservative one or the opposite.
The fourth factor is religion and beliefs, this is very common because nowadays people
are judged by religion and beliefs. A person being a Roman Catholic will have different views
and perspectives in life from an Atheist. A vast majority of people are being honed in their
religions. For instance, a person is born Muslim and because of that he does not eat pork unlike
Christians who can eat whatever they want.
The fifth factor is educational attainment, the norms and practices of an educated
person is different from the uneducated one. For example, person A’s car was hit by a Jeepney
and let us say that the driver of the Jeepney is not that educated and was challenging person A
to a fight, but instead of accepting the challenge person A just ignored it and reported it to the
police, by that we can see the difference between an educated person and a not-so educated
person.
To conclude, the self in our perspective is a complex being of immense capabilities, it
exists within a vessel, and is able to assume different characters in its existence. Additionally, it
has the capacity to perceive, adapt, and contribute to its society. Furthermore, the self lives in
the sandbox of existence, where all societies of the self conglomerate. Moreover, the self has
integrated factors that constitute the person it is in. Finally, the self is viewed as an immortal
voyager in a mortal vessel, navigating through the endless planes of life, in search of invaluable
treasure called “purpose”.