Recently I have been thinking a lot about the emphasis of modern society on self-exploration. To me, it seems like there is this expectation of knowing everything there is to know about yourself and your personality. In the contemporary digital world, there are hundreds of thousands if not millions of ‘personality tests’ that range from more culturally accepted standards such as the IQ or EQ test or the Myer-Briggs personality test to more obscure and less serious tests like ‘what type of bread am I?’. But is this focus on self-exploration even realistic? And does the digital world make it easier to go on the ‘journey of self-exploration or not?
From Pottermore to r/atheism
Nowadays, there is a community on the internet for virtually everything. Through social media, people form communities through every small interest they have. For many people, at least young people who have grown up with the internet, these communities are ways through which you can explore your own personality, interests and ways of life. For example, I would never have discovered my *admittedly a little dorky* interest in the game Dungeons & Dragons if it were not for the online community around it. Without the internet, I would just not have been exposed to it. This is not only the case for interests and hobbies but also for things such as sexuality and gender which can be made easier to explore through the communities of the internet, especially for those that otherwise do not know or are exposed to other people with the same identity.
If I were a type of bread, I’d be a narcissist
On the internet, you can find thousands and thousands of personality tests. From the IQ that you (supposedly) have, to what type of job would fit you best, to what type of bread you would be, there is truly a personality test for everything. This, for me, emphasises how much modern society values self-exploration and the ability to know oneself. While, in my opinion, this is not a bad thing necessarily to strive for, it is the immense pressure that is put on everything to know every little facet of yourself that is not very beneficial. Moreover, according to digital society, the way to get to know yourself is through putting yourself in as many little boxes as you can. Through pigeonholing identity and personality, I feel that there is a loss of realisation that identity is a multidimensional and fluid thing that is not something that can just be expressed through the modern tendency of excessive pigeonholing. What type of bread you would be, does not determine who you are as a person and you are not limited to your Myer-Briggs type or the type of subreddits you follow.
All in all, I wonder if there is even such a thing as completely knowing yourself although this would be more of a philosophical debate I’m sure. Anyhow, although digital society can help you in many ways to explore yourself, your identity and your interests, there is too much pressure of contemporary society to just push yourself into all of these small boxes and types of personality that are way too rigid and one-dimensional. I feel that there should be more of a collective realisation that identity is extremely fluid and multifaceted and not something captured through a simple personality test or through only the digital self.
Hi Roos! It was interesting to read your thoughts on finding yourself in a digital world, especially since I haven’t myself thought of it as being a pressuring factor in my life. However, I actually had a conversation this weekend about young people today not being given the time to figure out and explore what their beliefs are but being pushed to take a stance on various issues. Reading your blog, I think that could also be related to knowing oneself!
Hi Christine! Thanks for your reply :), yeah I agree with you entirely! I think this issue of being pushed into taking a stance from a very young age also has to do with the amount of information on the internet as well as the necessity to ‘perform’ on these platforms. In my opinion, this pigeonholing is actually very often a consequence of this phenomenon of having to have an opinion about everything from a very young age so the two are very much related to one another.
This was a very interesting read! I do think pigeonholing is a fault of the human psychology rather than a fault that came with the digital. People have always wanted to put things into boxes and make things as concrete as possible, while in reality, humans are complicated and subject to change. It was still very interesting though!
Hi! Thanky ou for your reply! I think you are totally right, this is definitely not something that only exists because of the digital world. However, I do feel that the digital world facilitates this type of thinking maybe even more. Especially when I was a teenager myself, I found myself falling into this ‘trap’ mostly or at least most easily through digital media. In the end, I do agree with you that people would pigeonhole regardless of the digital world anyways.
Roos, thank you for your post! I totally agree with your points. I think that people, especially young, have this need to better understand themselves and the world that surrounds them. With the personality tests, we can see why we act in the way we do. Also, with all these tests like ‘What type of bread would I be’, I think it’s more meant for fun than anything else. When I was younger, I used to take them all the time, but just because I was curious about the result and so I could laugh at it with my friends. Anyways, although I get the need to explore and understand ourselves so we could fit in somewhere, I agree with you that people need to realize that personality is fluid. It’s so often when one says “oh it’s my personality, can’t change it”, or “oh, it’s just the way I am”, and that they don’t realize that one personality test’s result doesn’t define you as a person for the rest of your life.