Know Thyself

It is a commonly held belief that early man became conscious of his being by comparing himself to other elements of nature. Man compared himself to air, rocks, trees, animals, rivers, and eventually other humans. Nothing that could be perceived by man avoided the eventual comparison to the burgeoning consciousness of man himself. It is my belief that the continuous quest that man has undertaken, a desire to “know thyself”, has been in vain. The real quest that man has devoted his efforts focuses on not the content of man but the context of man in relation to every other viable source of simulation available. In essence, knowing one’s self is impossible; knowing the world and how one relates to it are paramount.

It would be interesting to see a true experiment of self consciousness conducted in a vacuum. My hypothesis encompasses the following concept: to be free from interaction with other humans would leave no information for one to develop the individual personality traits that make human beings the highest known vessels of intelligence on the planet. I further claim: intelligence, as well as other forms of qualitative analysis of the human existence, is valid due to a comparison of self to the relation that one holds with other beings. One is defined, not by their individual content, but the collective stimulation derived from the context of how others relate to their existence. Many times I wish that were not the case; I do not desire to qualify my existence by what I desire to see in others but what I see in myself. It seems that, if I am to truly exist, there has to be someone there to confirm as witness my existence. In that light, the phrase “know thyself” really interprets “come know me; come verify my existence”. To “know thyself” is to merely be observant of how others observe you.

With that being said, how do you feel about me? Love, hatred, or any feelings between, can never be seen as a measure of how I really feel for the world; I base those feelings on how the world makes me feel about myself. In extension, I imagine how you feel about me, is really a reflection of how I make you feel about yourself. I hope that I make you feel good. That way, you possess the framework necessary to make the world a better place. After all, to “know thyself” requires someone else to grade the result. “Know thyself”; pass it on.