Psychological Spaces, Self-Realization, and Self-Esteem

A psychological space is the cognitive and emotional space which generates and is generated by our behavior. It is the abstract context of our lives much as the corresponding physical space we behave in is the 'real' context of our lives. The object of the behavioral exercise can be summed up in a nice dinner with friends. One eats, one talks, and one gains a sense of oneself. Certainly we do vastly different things, but they serve absolutely the end of a dinner with friends. To this point, within the context of postmodernism, there is no problem with this radical characterization of the problem of existence. However, human beings, being insecure in a hostile universe, must ask the question - what about legitimacy? That question jumps from postmodernism to pragmatism. Pragmatism says your psychological space is legitimate if your behavior is successful. What determines success? In America, from the beginning, success is understood as serving an enduring Interest as a market function to the benefit of oneself and one's society, which is no more than a socially valuable exercise in self-realization. That brings us to self-esteem. Can one be successful and have low self-esteem? I have known many such people and in every instance the low self-esteem was externally driven by conditioning, both incidental and deliberate. It is much easier to persuade someone to act against their interests if their self-esteem is low. Be well and do good.