Chameleon: pros and cons?

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Gaze

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Being a chameleon: pros and cons?
 
Pros: You can easily hide from predators.

Cons: People may step on you without noticing.
 
Being a chameleon allows you to be able to mingle with different kinds of people, and develop different aspects of yourself. However, sometimes you're left not knowing which one the 'real' you is, and can lead to identity confusion (which is sort of what I'm going through right now). I also think it's probably a bit easier for extroverts, as they would be less likely to feel the need to withdraw.

It also makes me feel fake at times-not when I'm in a bubbly mood, but when I'm in a more serious mood and I feel like I can make myself appear more happy, but I really don't want to (unless the situation requires it).
 
Real chamelons change colors primarily as social signaling, to express their moods and attract mates. For an animal that changes color to blend in with its environs and hide from predators, I'd recommend an Octopus.
 
magister343 said:
Real chamelons change colors primarily as social signaling, to express their moods and attract mates. For an animal that changes color to blend in with its environs and hide from predators, I'd recommend an Octopus.
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Indeed. Or Cuttlefish. Some cephalopods even change the texture of their skin to look more rock-like. I love cephalopods.
 
magister343 said:
Real chamelons change colors primarily as social signaling, to express their moods and attract mates. For an animal that changes color to blend in with its environs and hide from predators, I'd recommend an Octopus.
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Thanks for the recommendation. I'm sure the OP will change the thread title accordingly as soon she reads this.
 
pro: eyes can look different ways. cute tail. live in trees with your beloved monkeys. difficult to be detected.


cons: small. probably low on the food chain. associated with a government auto insurance agency.
 
corndogman said:
pro: eyes can look different ways. cute tail. live in trees with your beloved monkeys. difficult to be detected.


cons: small. probably low on the food chain. associated with a government auto insurance agency.
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Isn't that a gecko?
 
Pros:

1) For the short term you avoid social difficulties.
2) People enjoy being around you because you can become essentially a reflection of themselves (within reason).
3) You can get away with a lot of things (I guess that's a pro?)
4) Learn to lie well (after-all to a reasonable extent it is a survival tool).
5) Appear older and more intelligent than you actually are.
....there are a load of benefits to it and there is definitely a lot of appeal but the cons suck.....a lot.

Cons

1) No self actualization or at the most very little.
2) Get completely screwed in the long run.
3) Become so disconnected with yourself and the world around you and the worst thing about it is you don't notice it for years.

There are loads of cons that pretty much circle around the same topics.
 
DimensionX said:
Pros:

1) For the short term you avoid social difficulties.
2) People enjoy being around you because you can become essentially a reflection of themselves (within reason).
3) You can get away with a lot of things (I guess that's a pro?)
4) Learn to lie well (after-all to a reasonable extent it is a survival tool).
5) Appear older and more intelligent than you actually are.
....there are a load of benefits to it and there is definitely a lot of appeal but the cons suck.....a lot.

Cons

1) No self actualization or at the most very little.
2) Get completely screwed in the long run.
3) Become so disconnected with yourself and the world around you and the worst thing about it is you don't notice it for years.

There are loads of cons that pretty much circle around the same topics.
Click to expand...

You assume that the individual is lying when they are being adapatable. One could theorizie that all your experiences are flexible enough that you can apply them to almost any given set of circumstances in order to "fit" with all types of people. Are you less self actualized if you are capable of relating to lots of different people or more considering you are relating your experiences/self with so many different people? How does forging connections with other people make you disconnected? I would think the empathy required to forge relationships with everybody would make you more firmly emeshed with others, not less. Any activity taken to an extreme is unhealthly but for the most part being able to see the similiarities with others versus the differences is a less confrontational way to see the world than the later.
 
well i'd argue that a lot of people interact differently depending on their surroundings. like if you met your friends in a church, you'd probably interact differently than if you met your friends at a party. i'd be willing to bet we all just fall on a continuum of sorts, some closer to image malleability than others. but i think thats an important distinction to make; it is most likely the image that changes, not how the individual actually feels about certain things.

image is an interesting concept in general, but i think that for someone to be successfully fluid in their image it'd help if they had decent Fe. like i had an ENTP friend who described herself literally as a chameleon. though i wouldn't suggest it is required, probably just helpful in fine tuning the technique.
 
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