Personal life

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Humans have traditionally lived within family-based social structures and in artificial shelters. Indian family in Brazil posed in front of hut.jpg
Humans have traditionally lived within family-based social structures and in artificial shelters.

Personal life is the course or state of an individual's life, especially when viewed as the sum of personal choices contributing to one's personal identity. [1]

Contents

Apart from hunter-gatherers, most pre-modern peoples' time was limited by the need to meet necessities such as food and shelter through subsistence farming; leisure time was scarce. [2] People identified with their social role in their community and engaged in activities based on necessity rather than on personal choice. Privacy in such communities was rare.

The modern conception of "personal life" is an offshoot of modern Western society. Modern people tend to distinguish their work activities from their personal life and may seek work–life balance. [3] It is a person's choices and preferences outside of work that define personal life, including one's choice of hobbies, cultural interests, manner of dress, mate, friends, and so on. In particular, what activities one engages in during leisure-time defines a person's personal life. Religious authorities, moralists, managers and personal-development gurus have seized on the concept of an individual life as a fulcrum for potential control and manipulation. [4] [5] [6]

People in Western countries, such as the United States and Canada, tend to value privacy. Privacy includes both information privacy and decisional privacy; people expect to be left alone with respect to intimate details of their life and they expect to be free from undue control by others. [7]

History

"The Life & Age of Woman - Stages of Woman's Life from the Cradle to the Grave", 1849 11-stages-womanhood-1840s.jpg
"The Life & Age of Woman – Stages of Woman's Life from the Cradle to the Grave", 1849

In the past, before modern technology largely alleviated issues of economic scarcity in industrialised countries, most people spent a large portion of their time attempting to provide their basic survival needs, including water, food, and protection from the weather. [8] Humans needed survival skills for the sake of both themselves and their community; food needed to be harvested and shelters needed to be maintained. [9] There was little privacy in a community, and people identified one another according to their social role. [10] Jobs were assigned out of necessity rather than personal choice. [11]

Furthermore, individuals in many ancient cultures primarily viewed their self-existence under the aspect of a larger social whole, often one with mythological underpinnings which placed the individual in relation to the cosmos. [12] People in such cultures found their identity not through their individual choices—indeed, they may not have been able to conceive a choice which was purely individual. Such individuals, if asked to describe themselves, would speak of the collective of which they were part: the tribe, the Church, the nation. [13] Even in the 21st century, survival issues dominate in many countries and societies. For example, the continents of Africa and Asia are still largely mired in poverty and third-world conditions, without technology, secure shelter, or reliable food sources. In such places, the concepts of a "personal life", "self-actualization", "personal fulfillment", or "privacy" are often unaffordable luxuries. [14]

The English philosopher John Locke (1632–1704) figures among the pioneers in discussing the concept of individual rights. In the 17th century he promoted the natural rights of the individual to life, liberty, and property, and included the pursuit of happiness as one of the individual's goals.[ citation needed ]

Sociology

People spending their leisure time playing computer games Gamescom 2009 - Wii (5206).jpg
People spending their leisure time playing computer games

The notion of a personal life, as currently understood in the west is in part an artefact of modern Western society. People in the United States of America, especially, place a high value on privacy. Since the colonial period, commentators have noted Americans' individualism and their pursuit of self-definition. [15] [ need quotation to verify ] [16] Indeed, the United States Declaration of Independence and the Constitution explicitly raise the pursuit of happiness and the expectation of privacy to the level of rights.[ citation needed ]

George Lakoff sees the metaphor of life as "a journey" as a noteworthy structuring idea in "our culture". [17] Compare the traditional Chinese concept of tao.

In modern times, many people have come to think of their personal lives as separate from their work. [18] [ need quotation to verify ] This 9 to 5 paradigm regards work and recreation as distinct; one is either on the job or not, and the transition is abrupt. Employees have certain hours they are bound to work, and work during recreational time is rare. This may[ original research? ] reflect the continuing specialisation of jobs and the demand for increased efficiency, both at work and at home. The common phrase "Work hard, play hard" illustrates this mindset. There is a growing[ quantify ] trend, however, towards living more holistically and minimising such rigid distinctions between work and play, in order to achieve an "appropriate" work–life balance.[ citation needed ]

The concept of personal life also tends to be associated[ by whom? ] with the way individuals dress, the food they eat, their schooling and further education as well as their hobbies, leisure activities, and cultural interests. Increasingly, in the developed world, a person's daily life is also influenced by leisure-time use of consumer electronics such as televisions, computers and the Internet, mobile phones and digital cameras. [19] [ need quotation to verify ]

Other factors affecting personal life include individuals' health, personal relationships, pets as well as home and personal possessions.[ citation needed ]

Leisure activities

Kabukicho is Tokyo's entertainment district. Kabukicho at night 02.JPG
Kabukicho is Tokyo's entertainment district.

The way in which individuals make use of their spare time also plays an important role in defining their personal lives. In general, leisure activities can be categorised as either passive, in cases when no real effort is required, or active, when substantial physical or mental energy is needed. [20]

Passive activities include watching television, listening to music, watching sports activities or going to the cinema. The individual simply relaxes without any special effort.[ citation needed ]

Active activities may be more or less intensive ranging from walking, through jogging and cycling to sports such as tennis or football. Playing chess or undertaking creative writing might also be considered as demanding as these require a fair amount of mental effort.[ citation needed ]

Based on 2007 data, a US survey on use of leisure time found that the daily use of leisure time by individuals over 15 averaged 4.9 hours. Of this, more than half (2.6 hours) went on watching TV while only 19 minutes involved active participation in sports and exercise. [21]

Privacy

The room often reflects many aspects of one's personal life. Roscheid Hunsruckhaus innen.jpg
The room often reflects many aspects of one's personal life.

Privacy has been understood as entailing two different concepts; namely informational privacy and decisional privacy. The former concerns the right to be left alone in respect of the most intimate details of one's personal life and is a more accepted doctrine than the latter which concerns freedom from undue regulation and control. [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leisure</span> Time that is freely disposed by individuals

Leisure has often been defined as a quality of experience or as free time. Free time is time spent away from business, work, job hunting, domestic chores, and education, as well as necessary activities such as eating and sleeping. Leisure as an experience usually emphasizes dimensions of perceived freedom and choice. It is done for "its own sake", for the quality of experience and involvement. Other classic definitions include Thorstein Veblen's (1899) of "nonproductive consumption of time." Free time is not easy to define due to the multiplicity of approaches used to determine its essence. Different disciplines have definitions reflecting their common issues: for example, sociology on social forces and contexts and psychology as mental and emotional states and conditions. From a research perspective, these approaches have an advantage of being quantifiable and comparable over time and place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metaphor</span> Figure of speech of implicit comparison

A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are usually meant to create a likeness or an analogy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Privacy</span> Seclusion from unwanted attention

Privacy is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Recreation</span> Activity of leisure

Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for enjoyment, amusement, or pleasure and are considered to be "fun".

<i>Where Mathematics Comes From</i> 2000 mathematics book by Lakoff & Núñez

Where Mathematics Comes From: How the Embodied Mind Brings Mathematics into Being is a book by George Lakoff, a cognitive linguist, and Rafael E. Núñez, a psychologist. Published in 2000, WMCF seeks to found a cognitive science of mathematics, a theory of embodied mathematics based on conceptual metaphor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Lakoff</span> American linguist (born 1941)

George Philip Lakoff is an American cognitive linguist and philosopher, best known for his thesis that people's lives are significantly influenced by the conceptual metaphors they use to explain complex phenomena.

In cognitive linguistics, conceptual metaphor, or cognitive metaphor, refers to the understanding of one idea, or conceptual domain, in terms of another. An example of this is the understanding of quantity in terms of directionality or the understanding of time in terms of money.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metonymy</span> Figure of speech in which something is referred to by the name of an associated thing

Metonymy is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strength Through Joy</span> Party-operated leisure organization in Nazi Germany

NSGemeinschaftKraft durch Freude was a German NSDAP-operated leisure organization in Nazi Germany. It was part of the German Labour Front, the national labour organization at that time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexis de Tocqueville</span> French political philosopher, politician and historian (1805–1859)

Alexis Charles Henri Clérel, comte de Tocqueville, was a French aristocrat, diplomat, sociologist, political scientist, political philosopher, and historian. He is best known for his works Democracy in America and The Old Regime and the Revolution (1856). In both, he analyzed the living standards and social conditions of individuals as well as their relationship to the market and state in Western societies. Democracy in America was published after Tocqueville's travels in the United States and is today considered an early work of sociology and political science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony Giddens</span> British sociologist (born 1938)

Anthony Giddens, Baron Giddens is an English sociologist who is known for his theory of structuration and his holistic view of modern societies. He is considered to be one of the most prominent modern sociologists and is the author of at least 34 books, published in at least 29 languages, issuing on average more than one book every year. In 2007, Giddens was listed as the fifth most-referenced author of books in the humanities. He has academic appointments in approximately twenty different universities throughout the world and has received numerous honorary degrees.

In the social sciences there is a standing debate over the primacy of structure or agency in shaping human behaviour. Structure is the recurrent patterned arrangements which influence or limit the choices and opportunities available. Agency is the capacity of individuals to act independently and to make their own free choices. The structure versus agency debate may be understood as an issue of socialization against autonomy in determining whether an individual acts as a free agent or in a manner dictated by social structure.

Self-ownership, also known as sovereignty of the individual or individual sovereignty, is the concept of property in one's own person, expressed as the moral or natural right of a person to have bodily integrity and be the exclusive controller of one's own body and life. Self-ownership is a central idea in several political philosophies that emphasize individualism, such as libertarianism, liberalism, and anarchism.

A vocation is an occupation to which a person is especially drawn or for which they are suited, trained or qualified. Though now often used in non-religious contexts, the meanings of the term originated in Christianity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Everyday life</span> Ways in which people typically act, think, and feel on a daily basis

Everyday life, daily life or routine life comprises the ways in which people typically act, think, and feel on a daily basis. Everyday life may be described as mundane, routine, natural, habitual, or normal.

<i>Metaphors We Live By</i> 1980 book by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson

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Informal education is a general term for education that can occur outside of a traditional lecture or school based learning systems. The term even include customized-learning based on individual student interests within a curriculum inside a regular classroom, but is not limited to that setting. It could work through conversation, and the exploration and enlargement of experience. Sometimes there is a clear objective link to some broader plan, but not always. The goal is to provide learners with the tools they need to eventually reach more complex material. It can refer to various forms of alternative education, such as unschooling or homeschooling, autodidacticism (self-teaching), and youth work.

Consequential strangers are personal connections other than family and close friends. Also known as "peripheral" or "weak" ties, they lie in the broad social territory between strangers and intimates. The term was coined by Karen L. Fingerman and further developed by Melinda Blau, who collaborated with the psychologist to explore and popularize the concept.

<i>Otium</i> Leisure time in ancient Roman culture

Otium is a Latin abstract term which has a variety of meanings, including leisure time for "self-realization activities" such as eating, playing, relaxing, contemplation, and academic endeavors. It sometimes relates to a time in a person's retirement after previous service to the public or private sector, as opposed to "active public life". Otium can be a temporary or sporadic time of leisure. It can have intellectual, virtuous, or immoral implications.

Metaphorical framing is a particular type of framing that attempts to influence decision-making by mapping characteristics of one concept in terms of another. The purpose of metaphorical framing is to convey an abstract or complex idea in easier-to-comprehend terms by mapping characteristics of an abstract or complex source onto characteristics of a simpler or concrete target. Metaphorical framing is based on George Lakoff and Mark Johnson's work on conceptual metaphors, which holds that human cognition is metaphorically conceptualized. Metaphorical framing has been used in political rhetoric to influence political decision-making.

References

  1. Baker, Maureen (2010). Choices and Constraints in Family Life (2nd ed.). Don Mills, Ontario: Oxford University Press. p.  1. ISBN   978-0-19-543159-9. In this book, I argue that intimate relationships are certainly influenced by our personal preferences but to a large extent our 'choices' are shaped by family circumstances and events in the wider society ...
  2. Scott, Simeon (2011). "Contradictions of capitalism in health and fitness leisure". In Cameron, Samuel (ed.). Handbook on the Economics of Leisure. Elgar Original Reference Series. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. p. 155. ISBN   978-0857930569. ... we turn to the writings of anthropologists and archaeologists, the majority of whom believe that our earliest ancestors were well fed and healthy. They obtained their subsistence by hunting and gathering, they had a relatively egalitarian ethic and more leisure time available to them than people in any subsequent mode of production.
  3. Kelly, Matthew (2011). Off Balance: Getting Beyond the Work-Life Balance Myth to Personal and Professional Satisfaction. New York: Penguin. p. 60. ISBN   978-1101544280. For hundreds of years, almost from the beginning of corporate history, a divide between the personal life and professional life has been asserted. This is a false divide. ... It is impossible to separate the personal from the professional: the two are intricately linked.
  4. Clarke, Charles (2013). Woodhead, Linda; Winter, Norman (eds.). Religion and Personal Life: Debating Ethics and Faith with Leading Thinkers and Public Figures Including: Alastair Campbell, Steve Chalke, Delia Smith, Polly Toynbee, Giles Fraser, John Harris, Mary Ann Sieghart. Westminster faith debates. Darton, Longman and Todd. ISBN   978-0232530186.
  5. Sorley, W. R. (1911). The Moral Life: And Moral Worth. Cambridge manuals of science and literature (3rd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (published 2012). p. 26. ISBN   978-1107605879. The virtues of personal life are to be regarded both from the side of control and from the side of culture. On the one hand the varied impulses and desires have to be regulated so as not to interfere with the realisation of the moral ideal.
  6. Davis, Roy Eugene (1995). Life Surrendered in God: The Philosophy and Practices of Kriya Yoga. Yoga Series. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers (published 1997). p. 176. ISBN   978-8120814967. ... the guru may say, 'Go home and get your personal life straightened out. ...'
  7. 1 2 Kumar, Krishna; et al. (997). Public and private in thought and practice : perspectives on a grand dichotomy. Chicago; London: The University of Chicago Press. p. 383. ISBN   978-0-226-88624-4.
  8. Van Loon, Hendrik (1921). The Story of Mankind. New York: Boni and Liveright, Inc.
  9. Gupta, Anil K. (10 July 2004). "Origin of agriculture and domestication of plants and animals linked to early Holocene climate amelioration" (PDF). Current Science. 87 (1). Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 October 2004.
  10. Barnard, Alan J. (2004). Hunter-gatherers in history, archaeology and anthropology. Berg Publishers. ISBN   978-1-85973-825-2.
  11. "Why did anthropologists get interested in peasants?". Experience Rich Anthropology. University of Kent at Canterbury. Retrieved 26 February 2011.
  12. Percy, Walker (2000). Lost in the cosmos: the last self-help book. Macmillan. ISBN   978-0-312-25399-8.
  13. Ashton-Jones, Evelyn; Lindholm, Cherry; Charles Lindholm (1991). "Life behind the Veil". The Gender reader. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. p. 252. ISBN   978-0-205-12806-8.
  14. Maslow, A. H. (1943). "A Theory of Human Motivation". Psychological Review. 50 (4): 370–396. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.334.7586 . doi:10.1037/h0054346. hdl:10983/23610.
  15. de Tocqueville, Alexis (1840). Democracy in America. London: Saunders and Otley. Archived from the original on 5 December 2012.
  16. Compare: Schleifer, James T. (2012). "5: How Does Democracy Threaten Liberty?". The Chicago Companion to Tocqueville's Democracy in America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 82. ISBN   978-0226737058 . Retrieved 8 August 2016. For Tocqueville individualism meant the habit of living isolated from your fellows, of not concerning yourself with any public affairs, and of abandoning those matters to the care of the government as the only clearly visible representative of common interests. Like democratic materialism, democratic individualism led to the death of civic life and opened the door to any despotic power that would assume responsibility for shared interests. ... We need to recognize that ... Tocqueville ... treated the United States as something of an exception. He had described the American republic as shielded from the worst effects of democratic materialism; in his analysis, it was also insulated from individualism.
  17. Lakoff, George (1979). "Contemporary theory of metaphor". In Ortony, Andrew (ed.). Metaphor and Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (published 1993). pp. 223–224. ISBN   978-0521405614 . Retrieved 8 August 2016. Long-term, purposeful activities are journeys. ... In our culture, life is assumed to be purposeful, that is, we are expected to have goals in life. In the event[-]structure metaphor, purposes are destinations and purposeful action is self-propelled motion towards a destination. A purposeful life is a journey. Goals in life are destinations on the journey. ... Choosing a means to achieve a goal is choosing a path to destination. ... [T]he love is a journey metaphor inherits the structure of the life is a journey metaphor. ... a career is a journey.
  18. Best, Shaun (2009). Leisure Studies: Themes and Perspectives . SAGE Publications. pp.  201. ISBN   978-1-4129-0386-8. work leisure.
  19. Shah, Agam (2 October 2009). "Netbooks Propel Global Semiconductor Sales". PCWorld. PCWorld Communications, Inc. Retrieved 26 February 2011.
  20. Stebbins, Robert A. (November 2002). "Choice and Experiential Definitions of Leisure" (PDF). LSA Newsletter. 63.
  21. Leisure Time on an Average Day. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 26 February 2011.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)

Further reading

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