I am we?

This is another one of those things that crystallized gradually, because it kept popping up in several situations over a few days.

I think the first one was in The Art of Possibility, where she catches herself saying something like “But it wasn’t you talking. It was your jealousy.”

But the one that really clicked was the one in The E-Myth Revisited, with the story about the Skinny Guy and the Fat Guy:

One happy Sunday you decide that you gotta do something about yourself. Loose some weight. So you start jogging. Monday you live on carrot sticks, water and tomato juice, and you jog. Tuesday’s the same. And Wednesday again. Though as you go to bed, you sense that something’s changed. When you wake up on Thursday morning, you know what it is: You’re the Fat Guy again. Bummer.

The bottom line is, in a lot of situations, it makes a lot of sense to think of yourself as multiple personalities in conflict with each other. Part of you feels angry with some person, and another part feels sad for the same person. Part of you wants to exercise, part of you wants to kick back and relax with a few beers and a football game. Part of you wants to write The Perfect Piece of Software &tm;, part of you worries that you may be about to burn out, while yet another part of you is interested in the conflict that’s going on while you’re coding.

It can be really remarkable at times to disintegrate one’s sense of self in this way. It explains a lot of little things.