>>2332856>>2333675It's a very Western idea that personality is highly stable, but it varies a lot depending on situation. The "authentic self" isn't a single collection of behaviors, but a pattern of behaviors across certain contexts. I wonder if the "happiest people are the saddest" trope has some empirical truth to it, or if the contrast makes the gap seem larger. Or maybe it's just a sign of high emotion variance in general?
Honestly, I feel like watching Vtubers helps us be more empathetic towards ourselves and others. It's super easy to be empathetic and compassionate towards a cute anime girl. I look at how happy I want Kiara to be, and wonder if I should be maybe treating myself and the people around me with more kindness as well.
Society often implicitly teaches us that people who are physically, mentally, demographically, or socioeconomically "ugly" aren't deserving of compassion. I think a lot of men (as well as many other groups) feel this way (I definitely do) and then they might externalize it as aggression or anger, which is understandable because they've been taught that they're shitty people and don't deserve empathy, that they should ignore their internal selves and so their only way to emotionally regulate is to act on the world. I also think that it doesn't make sense to blame some group of people for the state of the world, like how the (American) right demonizes feminists and the left demonizes white males. When I watch Kiara, I just want her to be happy, I don't care too much about punishing that which makes her unhappy; e.g., don't engage with antis. Similarly, I believe it makes sense for me to focus on being kind to myself, and not engage with the people who have wronged me. If improving myself requires revenge, that's a different story, but oftentimes happiness is not a zero-sum game.
