“identity” comes to mean self-confidence, rather than the interactive construction of a “self” as discussed by the classical social psychologists.[102] The second concept, scaffolding, brings some hope to this misery. It is possible, namely, through the means of language and communicative actions, to support someone’s cognitive stage upwards—not just one, but two stages. Language has to be nature’s most awesome creation! Through language and interaction you create a “scaffold” that helps the other person to partake in behaviors that would otherwise be beyond his or her cognitive stage.
