Lately I’ve been thinking about consciousness.
I read a book several years back titled, Wider Than The Sky: The Phenomenal Gift of Consciousness. If you’re at all interested in how the human brain works and thinks, read it.
One of the main points I got from the book is what exactly consciousness is. A simple definition is being aware of yourself. It’s a feature only found in highly developed brains… namely, humans. There’s some debate whether chimps possess consciousness. My cats, contrary to what I might think or wish, do not. They’re not aware of their place in the world. They do not even realize, from an external perspective, that they exist.
Humans do. We know we are alive. We are self aware.
It occurs to me that consciousness can be as much of a burden as a gift.
The Phenomenal Burden of Consciousness.
What a weight, being self aware.
Aware of our faults.
Aware of our limits.
Aware of the implications of our actions.
Aware of how others view us.
Aware of every missed opportunity.
Socrates wrote, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”
Could the same be said for the overexamined life?
Could not over-analyzing paralyze you just as easily as under-analyzing?
© November 7, 2006
