Here\u2019s a concept I just made up. I think we play vicarious roles and sometimes only parts of these as we interface with mass media. We root for our preferred team in sports, or for our combatant in television wrestling or online computer games. We \u201cbecome\u201d various characters in the dramas and comedies we view in movies or on television. We feel with the words or rhythms or melodies of the music we play or hear. We \u201clive\u201d to some increasing degree in this sea of media energy. They\u2019re \u201cfractional\u201d in that often we do this with far less than full life-involvement. Sometimes we\u2019re even multi-tasking, doing other things. If we\u2019re snacking watching television, is eating a fractional role, too? Maybe so.<\/p>\n
Then there are the various social media\u2014twitter, Facebook, etc.\u2014and we live also fractionally to the degree we\u2019re aware that others know we exist and email us, twitter us, text us, return our greetings\u2014 \u201cHey, whassup?!\u201d\u2014and we vaguely imagine our relationship. We may feel hurt by either being not-responded-to when we reach out, or responded to curtly. We feel touched when another acknowledges they\u2019ve thought of us when … whatever. Who we<\/em> are (i.e., our sense of self<\/a>) gets spread around over a wider territory\u2014even when that includes one of our alter egos, our avatars, as a graphically-enhanced computer image in a virtual world. We may even be anonymous and yet sense our own influence\u2014and therefore presence\u2014elsewhere. Sure, this blog is an example of my broadcasting myself into a far vaster sphere of activity, not knowing how many or few will even glance at it. It wasn\u2019t like this in the olden days. <\/p>\n We play many roles<\/a>, and many of these have components and sub-components. Role is a useful \u201cunit\u201d for thinking about social psychology, just as \u201cnote\u201d is a useful way to think about music. It isn\u2019t the only way, but it\u2019s a tool. Otherwise, as I\u2019ve said elsewehere on this blog, it\u2019s all mush<\/a>. <\/p>\n The value of the concept of role and fractional role is that it promotes a slightly sharper level of self-perception and self-reflection, of thinking about thinking, and thinking about the context and circumstances that make for more implicit versus explicit types of awareness. One of my missions in life is to do what little I can to promote a shift towards more explicit awareness, and towards building the skills to engage in consciousness at a more complex and refined level. <\/p>\n