OTWO was speaking about a "false" self vs "authentic self". That is a false dichotomy. I say we are always our "selves". Sometimes our "selves" are disoriented due to inaccurate information about the world.
An infant is unsocialized. It is intent that its needs are "miraculousy" taken care of. Socialization is learning that there are other people in this world. Our first disorientation comes from believing that we are totally dependent on these "others" for our needs to be satisfied. Of course an infant can't see the big picture, but as it does see a larger context it comes to understand more about how everything works and what's expected. Maturation requires the organism or "self" to make informed decisions and eventually realizes that its information may need tweaking to conform to reality. So there is never a question about whether a self is authentic or false.
Black and white? You are either dead or alive. Aristotle defined psyche as the capacity to feel, sense, think and act. Each "self" is some hierarchy of these capacities. People are thinkers, doers, feelers and seers in some combination.
I know I am generally open to the possibility that I may be wrong and I have changed my views many times. I rigorously keep challenging my own as well as others views. My toilet reading is usually books on logic and critical thinking. Toilet reading because I can't take more than a page of that at a time.
The heritibility of Openness to change has been demonstrated in quite a bit of research. Do a search on the five factor model and openness to change. You will find evidence there.
I'm glad you asked for a clarification of my statement about getting people to believe lies. I was referring to the fact that organizations that try to get you to join their fraternal state use love/friendship more than argumentation and presentation of proof or evidence to get people to join. So if you are going to coax them away from that state you have to appear more loving than their group. But the problem is that along with the love bomb you are often simply offering them another more conventional and generally accepted lie.
