The Castle in the Air

[jedusor]

I've been called a crazy irrational tree-hugger without any respect for facts, and I've been called a cold scientific-minded student who can't accept anything without published evidence. Some people tease me about being vegan and enjoying pagan gatherings; others hear a description of the Whole Earth Festival and express astonishment that I would be caught dead at such a wifty event.

I've been aware of this odd discrepancy for some time, but it's been particularly noticeable recently because of the ramifications of certain people perceiving me as one way or the other. I've been learning about self-presentation and judgment of others in social psychology, and that's definitely helped me understand what's going on here. People behave differently in different situations. In a classroom situation, or with people who are more analytical in general, I'm going to try to be as rational and objective as I can, and I'm going to question people's assumptions. If I'm at the Gaia Goddess Gathering in the middle of the woods, I'm not going to argue cartography with the chick in the tie-dye scarf who's drawing energy and passion from the south. Scientific research isn't about wifty stuff, and hippie culture isn't about empirical testing. And people who see me in one of those situations are not likely to see me in the other.

The most interesting thing about this for me is that they're not making a mistake by seeing me one way or the other. The way I present myself has everything to do with others' impressions of me as a person. The problem only arises when someone refuses to acknowledge evidence that other aspects of me exist (as has definitely happened from both sides of this particular dichotomy). That's the fundamental attribution error, and it's a pain in the ass.

I desperately want to reread The Phantom Tollbooth now.

Comments

[persona.livejournal.com]

That's the fundamental attribution error, and it's a pain in the ass.

There's your thesis for half your psych papers over the next couple years.

[vito-excalibur.livejournal.com]

Do yo know about code-switching (http://www-personal.umich.edu/~weyrbrat/codeswitching.html)?

[42itous.livejournal.com]

Wait! how do you know aroraborealis?

[vito-excalibur.livejournal.com]

Should I answer that with another question?

[jedusor.livejournal.com]

I don't. I got the word "wifty" from laurenhat, and did some stalking detective work to get to the origin.

[jedusor.livejournal.com]

Yep. There are a million terms for it. That's one of the biggest problems with psychology--everyone figures out the same thing and gives it their own name. :P

[rubrick.livejournal.com]

Three things:

- I have a several friends who suffer from one form or another of that kind of duality. It's an interesting thing. It's jarring to the psyche when someone seems to fit two conflicting stereotypes.

- I thank you for introducing the word "wifty" into my vocabulary.

- You should definitely reread The Phantom Tollbooth. In fact, that's good advice any time. I continued to discover jokes I'd overlooked in it well into my twenties.

[jedusor.livejournal.com]

You hadn't seen talk of wiftiness on laurenhat's journal? That's where I got it.