Do you sometimes catch yourself projecting your own ego onto other people?

Question

How sure are you that what you see is, indeed, the truth ?

You blue furry monster ... you made me laugh out loud, actually rolling over with laughter ... *catches blue furry thing by tail and plants wet sloppy kiss on its innocent little face*

Answer 1

NO. Like, never. What are you trying to say, huh? Are you trying to tell me you're better than me? Are you trying to say you can see right through me? Don't you go there, baby. I am sooo not who you think I am, I am like, sooo much better than you. Why are you always trying to mess with my mind? Huh? Huh? Why? Why are you always projecting your ego onto mine, eh?

*Vomits split-pea soup all over room as head spins in 360*

(((Meerkatz))) Who, me? Project? Transgress? Regress? Never! I'm no sucker! *Sticks thumb in mouth and stomps off*

Answer 2

The electric shock that runs through me when I am reminded (again) that people live in a different reality from mine is awesome, and something I am thankful for.

Sometimes I'm thankful - VERY thankful - that the reality I see that others live in is not mine. Sometimes I am just amused by the assumptions I have made that others are like me, that MY reality is the only one anyone could live in..

Someone (I don't know who) said that we should treat every person we meet as if they are a traveler from a distant land, with no knowledge of our customs. Because they are, really.

I recall that when I was getting to know an ex-boyfriend, I was astonished to learn that he had never attended a live musical event or live theater performance, that he didn't have much of a musical collection or a lot of books. My immediate reaction was to blurt out "But your family had money!"

*laugh* You see the assumption there - in MY world, when people have money that isn't needed for just living, they go to concerts and plays, they buy music and the written word...so the only reason that someone could get to adulthood without EVER having gone to a concert or play (or have lots of used CDs and second-hand books) was if they had been DIRT POOR.

I also remember, far earlier in my life, my shock that someone who I liked, who I considered a friend, didn't have a library card, and didn't have books that she owned and read over and over again...It amazed me that I could be friends with a person who didn't read for pleasure.

It's a vital thing that we all understand that the way we are is not as others are. What makes complete sense to us may only provoke a puzzled look on the faces of others.

We really do NOT all live in the same world, because the world in which we each live is made up not only of our experiences (which may be universal except in the particulars), but our *reactions* to those experiences...


Just my two cents' worth on this subject.

It's a subject that has engrossed me since childhood.



EDIT: Oh my gosh! Thrice-Baked, you're a gem beyond price!!!

ROTFLMAO!!!!!

Answer 3

I have no idea how the blue furry monster made me laugh so much! Oh yes I do!

It was the truth of paranoia wonderfully expressed and that is pretty funny to see in reality! Our mind made it so and we just laughed at the image. I will only tell the truth if I do not know, I will not say. What benefit I if I tell a lie?

Answer 4

Yes, but it usually ends in disaster. The worst thing I do is use my extensive vocabulary and assume others are familiar with the same words I am. Then when they give me a blank look, I am ashamed. I know that children sometimes use unusually long or complex words to "show off," and I realize that's what people think I am doing. I forget that I was blessed with a better education, in my old-fashioned small town school back in the 1950s, than most people today can get even in a private school.

I got in real trouble at least once for this. An Arizona State Policeman who had stopped my husband for a minor traffic violation thought I was condescending to him when I used the term euphemism. When he did not understand and took offense, I explained that I was not trying to be condescending. Problem was, he didn't know that word, either.

I will try to control my tongue. I will try to control my tongue. I WILL try to control my tongue.

Answer 5

Yes, though I hope I can catch myself doing that thing I do, more often, so that I can be more at peace with the world, and in truth with myself as what ever I see, meet or feel is me.

Answer 6

Only as much as I catch other people projecting theirs onto me. Seems to be pretty balanced; very much give and take...

Then again, maybe there is just one "Self" that is projected thru All, and that many people will try to claim ownership of it, thinking, "Hey, I just saw myself in that person!"

Seems to be a frequent enough occurrence, to me, that this is more likely the case.

<<<<<<< cosmic love >>>>>>>

Answer 7

Sure, the small resricted (you) can only see the small restricted other. The beauty one sees in the other is also a reflection of the beauty of the self.. We are projecting all the time.

Answer 8

I think I am cool, and everybody else thinks I am cool, too. So I guess my ego is being projected onto other people, and then reflected back at me again. Basically, people worship me.

Answer 9

Yes a lot

Answer 10

Yes! Since I know that now, I can release others from my negative feelings against them.