The Shaped Self

The shaped self is the version of a person formed through reward, rule, relationship and adaptation.

It is not a fake self to destroy. It contains real gifts and intelligent strategies. The term helps distinguish what became familiar from what remains freely chosen.

The central question is not “Who was I before anyone affected me?” It is “What still belongs, and what has become compulsory?”

Related: Adaptation; Identity; Protection; That’s Not Me.