However, the author explains that the true danger in role playing is the fact that it actually prevents people from developing an entire, well-rounded identity on their own. Instead, they merely lock themselves into a role which, when it happens to end either through circumstance or through will, people are unable to detach themselves from that role. Consequently, they no longer have a true appreciation for or even knowledge of themselves, and have a difficult time existing outside of the role itself. A common example of this phenomenon occurs with parents in their process of parenting. People can become so good at being "mommy" or "daddy" that after there is no longer a need for a day-to-day mother or father, they do not fully know who they are or how to live life outside of those comfortable roles.
Another primary focus of the fourth chapter of A New Earth is negative thoughts. The author discusses how such...
A significant part of this component of the chapter addresses the root of such negative thoughts, be they stemming from frustration, unhappiness, as well as fear. As the author indicates in the following quotation, happiness may be ascertained a lot more easily when such concerns are no longer existent. "You will be free to let go of your unhappiness the momey you recognize it as unintelligent. Negativity is not intelligent (p.112)." In this regard, the author is advocating that there are no truly unhappy situations or unhappy things -- rather, there are simply unhappy perceptions and reactions to situations which make them worse than they need be. Social roles and negativity that is brought on by the ego should be abandoned to improve people's lives.
