An excellent point

by Claude Errera , Tuesday, June 18, 2013, 11:38 (3972 days ago) @ Cody Miller

And that point deserves much more credence that Cody will give it.

Because responding leads back to 'the matrix' (the real one, not the movie) and people roll their eyes when they see that.

In a sense he is right, because most young people and baby boomers are narcissists, thus they kind of are role playing their projected identities and playing a part in their little movie which they are the main character of.

Just because it's prevalent doesn't make it right or any less sad.

Pretty much everyone I know does this to some degree, not just young people and baby boomers. Have you never been in a heated discussion with someone when the phone rings, and one of you (whoever answers it) goes from angry to neutral (or cheery) in the snap of a finger? That's playing a role. That's not who you are at that moment - and yet doing so is not 'sad', it's polite.

There are a million other examples. You don't talk to your mother the same way you talk to your peers. And so on. All of these are examples of you 'playing a role' - you might say that they're just sides of yourself, but they're not ALL of you, so you're not being 100% 'you' if you show one or another and not all.

There's no matrix involved.