EGO AND SELF-AWARENESS
Human Conditions Series
What was it like to become self-aware? Do you remember when you first realized you were a human being, a person? Perhaps a first memory is the anchor allowing you to remember when you found your experience of conscientiousness?
If only we had the ability to detect consciousness. Maybe a technology that detects the ideal brain waves for a conscious being, or by some cognition test that determines self-awareness that goes beyond the I.Q. and Turing test. Could we find a way to say, yes, this cat has a soul and a consciousness, but no, this skink lizard that the cat hunts, does not.
It is a profound mystery of creation, as to how we gained the ability to see our reality and our role in it. Not just as a predictive set of behaviors and instincts, but one with foresight that is able to contemplate and be an active participant in said creation.
Cogito ergo sum
At some point in our evolution and creation, we became a self aware species. We are most differentiated from other organisms by our ability to reflect on ones "self" and imagine our self in other predicaments such as in the past, or the future. There may be a direct relationship with self-awareness, and the ability to understand time not just as a perception, but also understand its direct effect on an individual.
Human Conditions Series: Cogito, 2024. Printed and multimedia collage, 16"x 11".
With that self-discovery, comes the ego, the id, the dark selfish afflictions such as arrogance, anger or greed. The ego is the forbidden fruit, the knowledge of understanding, power and free will.
Faiths gravitate towards this reverence for knowledge as a double edged sword, the cure and the poison. When one becomes self-absorbed, their ego and 'elevated' self no longer serves them, they serve their ego and help to further it's grip on a new conjured reality that revolves around it... instead of their mind and ego serving them.
Scriptures and mythological epics forewarn of the effects of a swollen ego, and the deep knowledge about the nature of man and the human mind was not overlooked by past civilizations and religions. Substances like the kykeon, ayahuasca, wine mixes and other hallucinogenic organic supplements have been supposed to have been shared in rituals and ceremonies, and maybe used for ages as tools to quell the ego. Practices of yoga and martial arts also become regiments to hone not only the body, but the mind and inner monologue that can be associated with that ego consciousness.
How we see our selves has a real impact on how we see the world around us. Our reality is, partially if not all, created in our minds. We are in Plato's cave, with a dependence on perceptions and reasoning to interpret the patterns of that reality. Our ego is like a lens over our perceptions, one additional obstructions between us, that filters those shadows on the walls of the cave, finding preference in some over others.
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