We say and believe that humans are self-aware creatures. But what does that really mean and how do we know we are?
So, quite simply put and rather childlike, in “self-awareness” there is a self and an awareness, an experiencer self and an awareness part that is aware of the experience.
The experiencer says:
I think, I know, I feel, I work, I am tired, I am Jewish, I am a mother, I am busy, I believe, I see, I hear, I remember, I am afraid, I am cold, I am happy, I decide, I condemn, I forgive, I want, I dream, I love, I am scared, I am hungry, I am shocked, I am calm, I am old, I am a lawyer, I am hurt, I am angry, I remember, I forgot, I despise, I reject, I am fit, I am bored, etc., etc., in all tenses and all grammatical cases.
Again, ALL this is the experiencer. Where, who, what is the awareness? For many people, there is nothing else, even though they assume they are self-conscious, self-aware. But there’s no awareness in any of that.
Perhaps this will make some people mad. But it’s not meant to devalue anyone. In all true sciences and before any possible creative change, stating facts as objectively as possible is the first step to researching, finding and applying. A skill we are not taught in schools or anywhere in all our childhood careers…yet.
The simplest subjects are the most difficult to talk about. But question our assumed knowing, we must!