The Protean Self: Human Resilience In An Age Of Fragmentation

by Robert Jay Lifton

A deep dive into ”Proteanism”or the protean self—a psychological phenomenon integral to our times. 

We live in a world marked by breathtaking historical change and instantaneous global communication. Our lives seem utterly there are few absolutes. 

Rather than collapsing under these threats and pulls, Robert Jay Lifton tells us, the self turns out to be remarkably resilient. Like the Greek god Proteaus, who was able to change shape in response to crisis, we create new psychological combinations, immersing ourselves in fresh and surprising endeavors over our lifetimes.

Genres: Psychology, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Education, Sociology, Cultural

272 pages, Paperback

First published November 16, 1993

About the author

Robert Jay Lifton was an American psychiatrist and author, chiefly known for his studies of the psychological causes and effects of wars and political violence, and for his theory of thought reform. He was an early proponent of the techniques of psychohistory.

Reviews

[Peter Landau · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is more true today than when it was published over 30 years ago.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Somehow I can't help but think Lifton saw into the future when he wrote this book. While he's talking about struggles related to the late 80s and early 90s, there's so much that is still relevant to today. This is a book that is, at heart, about possibility and resilience in the face of daunting challenges, from global warming to political unrest. I deeply respect Lifton's book on Totalism and would say this is the other piece. Those books need to be read together to get their full effect.

[Marion · Rating 2 out of 5]

This idea of a protean self was suggested by a professor. Unfortunately, the answer was evident before reading 200+pages. The redeeming qualities of the text are Lifton's allusions to literature (I skimmed right over the real-life accounts, except for the guy whose girlfriend had slashed his thigh because he had accidentally slept with her twin sister whom he mistook for his girlfriend). Otherwise, it seems to me that any socio/psychology pre-9/11 is completely outdated and irrelevant.

[Vasil Kolev · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had very high hopes for this book, and was wrong.

Boring and useless, most of the stuff there is obvious. The frequent quoting is also really annoying (I think that the most used punctuation is the quote sign), and the language is the most boring I've ever read.

It seems like a different Lifton wrote this book, not the person that wrote the books on the thought reform, Aum Shinkuryo or the Nazi doctors.