Are you more yourself here or in real life?

Sunstone said:

Hold on now! Do you mean to say there are people who are interested in YOUR views?

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Yeah... will you tell us how to achieve that, @Terese ?

Sunstone said:

About the same, except in real life, I will not have a thing to do with anyone that I have marked as a wilful fool. Fools get my compassion, but wilful fools are invisible to me.

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Is it because they wear camouflage out there, too?

I am generally the same, here and there, hiding some dark side.

Sunstone said:

Hold on now! Do you mean to say there are people who are interested in YOUR views?

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LuisDantas said:

Yeah... will you tell us how to achieve that, @Terese ?

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Sure can! One can sway a person through a mix of emotional and intellectual intelligence, authenticity, and ice cream

The first two are optional

Phaedrus said:

In relation to discussing religion.

Outside of online forums, I never discuss my views on religion. Ever. It's simply never brought up. In real life, I think people are generally more concerned about their jobs than discussing something like religion.

It is only here on the forum where I am able to express myself in relation to this topic.

What about you?

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I'm more myself here, than in real life.

I, myself avoid religious discussions in public unless I know people very well in a positive, personal manner. Religion touches on personal matters way too much. Here on RF, since this is a forum for religion, and people are willful to talk about it, I enjoy the exchange and am far more open about it then I otherwise would be. Religion is a hot button topic. I do not think it has to be, but the nature of what religion explores makes it so.

Who said anyone on here has a real life?

Phaedrus said:

In relation to discussing religion.

Outside of online forums, I never discuss my views on religion. Ever. It's simply never brought up. In real life, I think people are generally more concerned about their jobs than discussing something like religion.

It is only here on the forum where I am able to express myself in relation to this topic.

What about you?

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I just go about my daily activities. Like you , I really don't talk about religion or politics outside of venues where those subjects are discussed and debated.

There's clearly more to life than religion or politics. ;0)

Phaedrus said:

In relation to discussing religion.

Outside of online forums, I never discuss my views on religion. Ever. It's simply never brought up. In real life, I think people are generally more concerned about their jobs than discussing something like religion.

It is only here on the forum where I am able to express myself in relation to this topic.

What about you?

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When I read the thread title it reminded me of the Irishman who, a while after arriving at someone's house, remarked: "Well, I must say I feel a hell of lot more like I do now than I did when I first came in."

Phaedrus said:

In relation to discussing religion.

Outside of online forums, I never discuss my views on religion. Ever. It's simply never brought up. In real life, I think people are generally more concerned about their jobs than discussing something like religion.

It is only here on the forum where I am able to express myself in relation to this topic.

What about you?

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I think I'm pretty consistent.
I would say IRL I'm probably a little quieter than some might expect, but that is just initially, and it's not like I'm 'quiet' per se.

lewisnotmiller said:

I think I'm pretty consistent.
I would say IRL I'm probably a little quieter than some might expect, but that is just initially, and it's not like I'm 'quiet' per se.

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I am. I'm 'quiet', as in I don't jump into group conversations much. and one of my kids is the same way. It's genetic. And we're proud of it..!

...And we don't care what society says, and we tell our child's teachers to stop pressing it, if they have a problem with it.

Landon Caeli said:

I am. I'm 'quiet', as in I don't jump into group conversations much. and one of my kids is the same way. It's genetic. And we're proud of it..!

...And we don't care what society says, and we tell our child's teachers to stop pressing it, if they have a problem with it.

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I applaud that. I have a quiet daughter, and one friend who is very quiet. They love spending time together because there's no pressure to be what they're not, and no assumption extroverts are 'better'.

The only thing that is like "myself" here on the forums is my constant attempts to look at things logically and analytically (not that I always succeed, of course). Otherwise, on the forums I allow myself to be pretty darn free with my language and relaying my displeasure at something said or expressed. In real life, I always attempt to stay above scrutiny in those things. As in, I don't get out of line with people - don't curse them out - don't talk down to them - don't berate them, etc. I am cool, calm and collected, and I make sure they have no recourse but to remain the same or risk looking like they have emotional issues. I analyze the situation, and report the truth about it, regardless how angry or perturbed the other person has let themselves get. In a way, I simply do not care about other people's expressed anger. The moment they've gone there, I'm already actively in the process of shutting them down with calm and rationality. I've literally laughed because I can't help myself when a person talking to me has worked themselves into a tizzy and are getting emotionally charged.

Here on the forums, I let myself go a little - I do express anger and I am willing to try and make them feel the fool. There are far fewer and less impactful consequences to provoking someone online than in real life. I don't want to go around having to punch people back, in other words, and very much prefer to smack them down with wit and cunning.

I rarely discuss religion in real life, unless I'm hosting a curious person at the house of worship I attend, and in that case it's more or less part of the job description.

I"m pretty much the same. I like learning what makes people tick. Outside the internet I find people to be more private and rightly so. If you tell someone off on the internet you can mostly just block them. If you tell someone off in person you might get hurt phisically.

Phaedrus said:

In relation to discussing religion.

Outside of online forums, I never discuss my views on religion. Ever. It's simply never brought up. In real life, I think people are generally more concerned about their jobs than discussing something like religion.

It is only here on the forum where I am able to express myself in relation to this topic.

What about you?

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The most helpful thing about this place
The views of the participants are different
This site is like an academic school
Anyone who claims full knowledge is wrong
We are like fruits and everyone has a special taste
Even the fruit itself tastes different from place to place

About public life
True ratified
There is no time and also it is not appropriate to talk about religious matters with my friends at work

But we share sincere feelings such as blessed in occasions and consolation in sorrows

Probably here.

The question is flawed because it implies that a "self" or a "true personality" exists, when there is no reason to suppose so. How would we even define "being yourself?"

Hubert Farnsworth said:

The question is flawed because it implies that a "self" or a "true personality" exists, when there is no reason to suppose so. How would we even define "being yourself?"

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A "permanent" self does not exist but a gross self (body) exist in this physical world, so when people speak of a self they most often speak of the body ( experience of being alive) whereas Eastern philosophy speaks of a non-self (not a no-self) You can not point at the body and say this is self. Because body change all the time and are never the same from day to day.

I think the process of having to write things down, which is a slower and more thoughtful a process, means I'm a little more eloquent and organized here than real life. I also have some responsibilities here which may color my interactions a bit.
But I'm not a very private person. Unless it's someone like a patiant or coworker I'm comfortable about talking about pretty much anything. From nerd hobbies to religion, politics to science and everything in between.