By Jerry "Clapso" Avissato
November 11, 1999
SO-101
Professor R. H. "Hoff" Hoffman
Biological Characteristics
Race: Human
Age: 41
Gender: Male
Physique: Flabby
Agility: Slowing down
Physical Attractiveness: Moderate
Height: Six feet
Weight: 200 LBS.
Health: Fair
Medical History: After years of "Talk Therapy" I was finally diagnosed as suffering from Bi-Polar Disorder in June 1998, made a suicide attempt in July 1998. I would be in better shape health wise if I had better access to health care throughout my life.
Psychological Characteristics
Intelligence: Moderate, I have been described by a friend as a "Pseudo-Anti-Intellectual."
Personality: Weird and love it!
Emotions: I feel things very deeply
Aptitudes and Interests: Art, Science, Reading, Strategy Games, Cooking, Eating, Interesting Conversation, Chia Pet Farming
Strengths and Weaknesses: Sometimes what I think are my strengths turn out to be weaknesses, and visa versa. It's gotten to the point where I'm no longer sure which is which.
Social Characteristics
Family: Working Class and proud!
Culture: Low, but I can appreciate the so-called "finer things" of high culture
Social Status: Seems to change minute to minute depending upon social context (who I'm hanging out with at the moment).
Economic Status: I'm so broke I can't afford to pay attention
Urban Upbringing: I actually feel bad for the suburban and rural kids, they missed so many great cultural events we urban kids had.
Friends: Many scattered all over the country and across the globe! Got a few enemies too.
Relationships to Other Members of Society: Varied, although I've always tried to show empathy toward others and treat them as I wish to be treated. Of late I've seen the wisdom of being ready to burn some fools who wish to play power games with me. I only hope I know when to attack and when not too, I can be devastating in a conflict.
Nationality: Citizen of the World.
Each of these factors has effected my chances for a "successful" life. Although I'm not always sure how I, personally, define success I will stick to the common late capitalist society definition, financial/career success, for the sake of brevity. I will now explore each factor separately.
Biological Factors
Since I can describe myself as average in most of the biological criteria I can neither claim to be helped nor hindered by the biological factors. There is the medical history criteria regarding my Bi-Polar diagnosis. As debilitating as the cycles of mania/depression are, I believe that my ability to manipulate symbols in new and interesting ways is closely tied to whatever brain abnormalities cause Bi-Polar disorder. This may be borne out by the fact that many great writers were and are diagnosed as Bi-Polar. After all what is writing but the manipulation of symbols. Since I believe my "talent" for symbol manipulation has helped me in life, I can argue that my "mental illness" is a "wash," that is, it is a help as well as a hindrance in my quest for success.
Psychological Factors
Although I relish my, to use Goffmans description, "presentation of self" as a strange, slightly wacky, "Poststructural Renaissance Man" I know that in reality I fall mostly within the psychological "norms". I can't say that these factors have had much effect on the lack of success I have experienced in my life thus far.
Social Factors
I have said for years that the one big mistake I made in my life was not choosing my parents well. Some people misunderstand when I say this and immediately ask, "How can you be so critical of your parents?" I don't mean it as a criticism of my parents, after all they didn't pick their parents too well either. This is a paraphrase of Malcolm Forbes SR. who, when asked how one becomes rich in America answered "pick your parents well, that's how I did it." He was admitting that the Social Class we are born into is the primary determinant of how successful each of us is. I can see how the other two factors have their effect, but the social factors outweigh the others by a wide margin.
Only in the light of C. Wright Mills "Sociological Imagination" can I truly say what has been stopping me from becoming successful. It is now clear that my troubles began at my birth. That I was born into a working class family to a large extent determined my values and attitudes. These in turn effected my career choices, my relationships with others, my view of the world and of myself.
Read, Think, Speak, Write, Be!