Back in the 1950s, a sociologist named Erving Goffman wrote a very influential book called The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, about how people present themselves in the world. Goffman showed that we don’t just exist, now here now there, as static objects moving about in space, bouncing off other people. Instead, Goffman pointed out how we carefully craft the way we appear, the way we behave, and, as a result, the way we are perceived by others. Furthermore, we do so differently for different audiences, on different occasions, and with different expectations in mind. In doing so, we play different roles in social life, depending on what contexts we find ourselves in. Effectively, we become different people. Continue reading “The Publication of Self”