Maybe we identify people’s ‘true selves’ with their inner child and by extension, who they were as children — uncorrupted little magical beings of light and goodness.
Theory of mind? I.e. start with the idea that the "other" we are faced with is similar to us, not evil, and proceed from there, adjusting as necessary. Since most people are mostly decent, this mostly works.
Hm, could be. If you’re right, it would predict that psychopaths would not believe in a good true self—they’d believe in a bad true self. I do seem to remember psychopathy being correlated with cynicism, so you might be on to something here.
Such a great podcast episode, David! I look forward to your articles here. The topic of happiness was awesome. Unobtainium. You and Jim have a great rapport. Enjoy Substack!
Maybe we identify people’s ‘true selves’ with their inner child and by extension, who they were as children — uncorrupted little magical beings of light and goodness.
Theory of mind? I.e. start with the idea that the "other" we are faced with is similar to us, not evil, and proceed from there, adjusting as necessary. Since most people are mostly decent, this mostly works.
Hm, could be. If you’re right, it would predict that psychopaths would not believe in a good true self—they’d believe in a bad true self. I do seem to remember psychopathy being correlated with cynicism, so you might be on to something here.
Such a great podcast episode, David! I look forward to your articles here. The topic of happiness was awesome. Unobtainium. You and Jim have a great rapport. Enjoy Substack!