2021.04.23 14:10
Self-awareness is what makes us human
https://bigthink.com/mind-brain/self-awareness-makes-us-human
2021.04.23 16:52
2021.04.25 12:36
"Being aware of being aware of being. In other words, if I not only know that I am but also know that I know it, then I belong to the human species. All the rest follow s— the glory of thought, poetry, a vision of the universe. In that respect, the gap between ape and man is immeasurably greater than the one between amoeba and ape."
In light of these myriad benefits, it's not surprising that cultivating accurate self-awareness has long been considered a wise and noble goal. In Plato's dialogue Charmides, Socrates has just returned from fighting in the Peloponnesian War. On his way home, he asks a local boy, Charmides, if he has worked out the meaning of sophrosyne — the Greek word for temperance or moderation, and the essence of a life well lived. After a long debate, the boy's cousin Critias suggests that the key to sophrosyne is simple: self-awareness. Socrates sums up his argument: "Then the wise or temperate man, and he only, will know himself, and be able to examine what he knows or does not know…No other person will be able to do this."
I felt that this article is indeed a nice review of self-awareness both in the west
and the east ever since humans were created on this planet.
Now with the functional MRI, we can see what part of our brain is involved
when we are thinking of what we are thinking.
Why humans have this brainpower that animals apparently are lacking remains
a good question we humans must answer if humans want to continue to live
and prosper on this God-given paradise, I believe.
Personally, it has been my life long endeavor to discover myself in my own universe
just as most human beings have done so as illustrated here in this article very well.