A Personal Journey of Discovery
Over View
So like sleeping Gulliver we awaken from our “shipwreck” birth.
What am I? Who am I? Where am I?
So asks man, the uniquely self-aware animal,
the inevitable question of his self-aware condition;
demanding a knowledge of the context and perspective to his existence.
He finds that he has joined the moving spiral staircase of time,
in his allotted place.
Exert from "Stop4T"
What am I? Who am I? Where am I?
So asks man, the uniquely self-aware animal,
the inevitable question of his self-aware condition;
demanding a knowledge of the context and perspective to his existence.
He finds that he has joined the moving spiral staircase of time,
in his allotted place.
Exert from "Stop4T"
Discovering What?
Mankind is extraordinary. Certain elements brought together to make a unique animal. The obvious elements to this uniqueness can be seen in that mankind has acquired a sophisticated intellectual capability compared to that of other animals; of computing a corollary of cause and effect and of complex abstract thinking, these have given man the ability of understanding the mechanics of his surroundings. Notwithstanding this particular element, man is most certainly an animal; as like all life he has the innate dictat to survive; stay alive. However In man, partly as a product of the of the aforementioned, there is one further element that when combined with the intellectual sophistication and the instinctual dictate produces a momentous state of consciousness.
As the above quotation says, we are a self-aware animal. That is to say we have a conceptual understanding of the fact that we are a matter brought together to function and interact with our environment to a set of prescribed mechanisms as laid out in what we have labeled the laws of nature. The profundity of this self-aware state may well be lost in the familiarity of having been brought up with in this state. But be in absolutely no doubt the degree to which we can exercise our self-aware ability is not just quite extra-ordinary within the animal kingdom but has been one of the factors in catapulting mankind into a total different realm of existence.
In looking to answer the question "discovering what?" it is perhaps answered by the the inevitable questions that arise from the combined elements of our self aware state as they relate to one's own existence: who, what, why, and if.
At its inception philosophy can be seen as man's collective "journey of discovery" but from the idiosyncratic we all, to some extent explore these questions. But of course the degree and scope to which we do this will be dependent on a multiplicity of factors relevant to our particular experiences.
Born into life as babies, but even before our birth our sensory perception allow us to experience our environment; from that moment on we are learning about our existence. What are we learning?......How to live but the information we gain from these early experiences are largely dealt with from an instinctual mechanism. It is not till our intellectual faculties are sufficiently developed can we process the information gained, when we have a conscious realisation of our self: self awareness.
Our Journey of Discovery starts at the moment that we can have a conscious understanding of our own existence; usually In our teenage years. The information gleaned throughout our childhood can now be processed; to make sense of; to give us the answers to, what, who and why.
As the above quotation says, we are a self-aware animal. That is to say we have a conceptual understanding of the fact that we are a matter brought together to function and interact with our environment to a set of prescribed mechanisms as laid out in what we have labeled the laws of nature. The profundity of this self-aware state may well be lost in the familiarity of having been brought up with in this state. But be in absolutely no doubt the degree to which we can exercise our self-aware ability is not just quite extra-ordinary within the animal kingdom but has been one of the factors in catapulting mankind into a total different realm of existence.
In looking to answer the question "discovering what?" it is perhaps answered by the the inevitable questions that arise from the combined elements of our self aware state as they relate to one's own existence: who, what, why, and if.
At its inception philosophy can be seen as man's collective "journey of discovery" but from the idiosyncratic we all, to some extent explore these questions. But of course the degree and scope to which we do this will be dependent on a multiplicity of factors relevant to our particular experiences.
Born into life as babies, but even before our birth our sensory perception allow us to experience our environment; from that moment on we are learning about our existence. What are we learning?......How to live but the information we gain from these early experiences are largely dealt with from an instinctual mechanism. It is not till our intellectual faculties are sufficiently developed can we process the information gained, when we have a conscious realisation of our self: self awareness.
Our Journey of Discovery starts at the moment that we can have a conscious understanding of our own existence; usually In our teenage years. The information gleaned throughout our childhood can now be processed; to make sense of; to give us the answers to, what, who and why.
A Personal Journey
I am not going to enumerate all the possible influences that go to dictate the nature of our journeys. For some the need to have answers to past events in order to discover who they really are will drive them more so than others. I am not saying that all or only those for whom life has dealt bad experiences should or would necessarily be more driven than others on a journey of discovery. The vagaries that compel an individual to consider the philosophical are just that vagaries. Although I feel strongly that everyone can benefit from a degree of self discovery but self awareness is not an innate ability; skills, in particular honesty of self-appraisal are paramount. self honesty for some, when confronted with negative social mores or perceived stigma will find that what they discover about themselves may be too difficult to admit to.
As all of the above suggests, the duration and scope of this journey are not determinable for some superficial and short lived for others a lifetime with out complete resolve, what one can say is when it can start, in that nether-land betwixt childhood and adult.
As all of the above suggests, the duration and scope of this journey are not determinable for some superficial and short lived for others a lifetime with out complete resolve, what one can say is when it can start, in that nether-land betwixt childhood and adult.