Paradox of Self- Assessment

Isn't it mind-boggling that most people describe themselves as 'deep' and believe that they have a vast aggregate of thoughts and ideas which others see as profound-- even if people around them actually see them as blunt, or perhaps not so much out of the ordinary. Usually I chance upon these kinds of self description in social networks, with some person characterizing himself/herself as 'malalim', deeper than what he appears to be, quite difficult to fully gauge or understand and so on. I seldom think that people do that out of a self-inflated ego, but rather an honest assessment of the self.

I have no intentions of bashing people who do see themselves as profound or 'deep'. I am more intrigued with why many of us find shelter in the thought that something, perhaps unfathomable, exists in the superficial. It is possible that such descriptions only stemmed from the context of social networks, which is to present yourself to people who knows and do not know you. Of course, to people who do not know you, you will initially have this air of mystery, which may constitute a meaning of profoundness.

Generally speaking though, not fully knowing a person is a dense reason to automatically attribute 'deepness' to him/her. While there may be no solid measure by which we could judge whether a person is profound or not, it is often painted as being in touch with meaningful things or ideas which the usual person cannot appreciate, or even think about in the first place. Seeing a person as 'malalim' is very subjective, since no one of us has the same experiences or background. What may appear usual to one person may have an entirely different meaning to another. So what counts then?

I think the belief that we are actually smarter, more complex, than others perceive us is naturally enticing. Many people would not like to believe they are dumb as rocks or describe themselves as such. While our own self-evaluation may not always meet with those of others, it will always be a natural tendency to be perplexed of our own thoughts. Thus, we create a microcosm where even our thoughts appear profound to us.

Many of us will see varying levels of profoundness in other people. After all, we do not share the same brain, and a person's exclusive thoughts may appear deep to himself just because it is within the confines of his thinking, even though others might see it as simplistic should he/she voice it out.

How about you? Are you a 'deep' person?