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Position:Home>Philosophy> What is the "self"?Question: What is the "self"!? What, in your opinion, is the "self" -- the ego, the "you" or "me", the "I" through which we each seem to perceive the world!. How do you think it developed in humans, and do you believe it to be present in other living organisms (eg!. animals, insects, etc!.)!? I'm sorry if this is a weird concept; let me know if it makes no sense!. :-)Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: There is plenty of evidence that non-human animals have a sense of self!. So whatever the self is it is probably a continuum of cognitive abilities with different animals and humans at different points on that continuum!. I don't mean to imply it is a one dimensional continuum as there are many aspects to what a self is!. It is clear that people confuse the self with a sense of self with consciousness and with awareness!. Those are four different things!. One thing about the self in humans, and probably other animals, is that the self is tightly integrated with fear!. This is know because when the self is eliminated all fear is also lost!. Evolutionarily fear is useful in keeping us from doing things just out of curiosity that could harm us!. Fear is a large part of what your self is!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Self can be defined as a lifeforms decision making program!. For us it is essential the list of things we want and don't want to happen, coupled with a sense of how much we are willing to do to for the given effect!. And wrapped up in there is how good we are at figuring things out!. Virtually all life has some kind of 'survival program', the only real difference between humans, animals or even plants for that matter, is the complexity of this 'program'!. Self did not emerge to make us human!. Humans simply have a fairly complex brain/computer, capable of handling a fairly complex 'self' program, which translates into a profoundly adaptive capacity to predict and control our environment!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Self is a grand metaphor created by the essence of what it means to apprehend the world around you!. And, it is amplified one thousand fold by language!. You can expand it, shrink it, embolden it, stick it behind the door, put it in the freezer!. Your Analog "I" is not constrained to simply existing within the skin of your physical self!. Only a metaphor can have such attributes!.!.!. Behold the analog "I"Www@QuestionHome@Com to me it is the junction where the five senses meet!. of course it is present in other animals!. any animal which has eyes ears or whatever and flinches when you hurt it has an ego!. It "desires" to be away from the pain and there is something int hem to have the ability to "desire"Www@QuestionHome@Com I think "self is in the subconscious it is the person we really are not the facade that we put on for other people!. They say that with meditation we can reach our real self!. I doubt that animals or insects have a self!. There just isn't the brain capacity for this!.Www@QuestionHome@Com self= consciousness, there is superego at the core of "self" you = just someone in my individual universe, making my mind busy, how can i be sure that you are real!? animals, insects= special effectsWww@QuestionHome@Com It's your soul!. For instance, if your listening to your teacher, then who hears the humming bird outside the window!? Animals don't have souls!? There is no god in their realm of living/existing!.Www@QuestionHome@Com At the deepest level currently perceivable, the self seems to be a recurring pattern in the quantum field that gets modifies by interactions and goes into quiescent state when the attendent corpus looses cohesion!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Recognition of the senses!.Www@QuestionHome@Com the Id is strictly humanWww@QuestionHome@Com Its our soul that God put in us!Www@QuestionHome@Com |