When my brain asks itself "how am I thinking this?" what is the "I" that is doing the asking?

Question

Do we really know ourselves?

ECQC: "Do we really know ourselves?" was a general question about humanity not myself, so not singular.

... moron...

Answer 1

Do we really want to know ourselves? is more the case. As the human brain goes we are programmed to be self-critical, we just can't help ourselves. "How can anyone know ME, when I don't even know myself"?
We could spend the rest of lives worrying about how well we know are own minds, but it'll drive you completely mad trying to solve the greatest mystery to man.

Answer 2

BINGO You ahve actually hit one of the dicotomically unsolved and more disputed epistemological questions of all time. There is not a single conclusive anser to this, but i can of course tell you what i think:

Your question, more than answering shows in itself the awareness that we are not this piece of matter we call body, that the "I" exists in another plane of existence, atemporal and alocal, Out of time and out of space. This is what Kant and later Schoppenhauer distingished as Phenomena and Noumena, this fixing the split that Descartes introduced in our culture, the famous Body-Mind split.

I believe with Kant and Schoppenhauer that there is no such distinction between the universe and us, and that the universe we percieve lies in the field of the knowledgeabl: Our perceptions, or the "phenomena". This is the only thing we can physically know because our sensorial apparatus is so designed, however....
There is a whole aspect of reality to which we will never have access to, and we will never be able to know, at least with our senses, this is the field of the "noumena"
We can never have a direct aprehension or perception of the things as they are in themselves, we only do so via our senses and we can only process what those senses feed us: the brain's job! But you touched definitely a nerve: The Brain is not us!! It doesn't follow that the "I" the self consciousness coexists or is identified with the processor (The Brain) The "I" according to many is an "entelechy" or a phenomena that is more than the parts that compose it. Accoring to Heiddeger for instance: The "I: is a region or field of consciousness. Acording to Budha: the self doesn't exist and is merely an agregation of processes, a process in itself that gives the ILLUSION that there is actually a SELF but there is none.
One thing that the oriental philosophies from india teaches us and that some western philosophers have actually arrived at the same conclusionsis that the world around us is a blanket pulled before our eyes, that it is all an illusion, this is called the veil of maya: Reality as solid and having an intrinsec nature does not exist. But in the middle of all this, what is the I you ask...that my friend, "I: think is the key question to which only a life of internal quest can cope with.

Answer 3

It's not THAT easy to know yourself.
About the first question, you give the answer of your choice at the beginning of the question: the brain.
I wouldn't be so sure. Too many people have been in a state of apparent death, with their brain showing no sign of activity, but they were still able to think, and even see and hear things happening in the hospital room, as if floating about the ceiling.
What would I answer: the nous, the mind, the intellect, the self-conscientious part of the human soul.

Answer 4

It's not really all that deep - although strictly speaking it's your mind that does the asking, how exactly the brain gets involved we don't totally know yet.

The mind is perfectly capable of having debates with itself, hiving off one part from another. If that were not the case, there would be no such thing as consciousness, which is among other things the capacity to form a mental picture of yourself. There would also be no such thing as guilt; if one part of your mind didn't encourage you to do things that another part considered a bad idea, there would be no guilt. We would also not survive for very long as a species.

Answer 5

It is because of a biological leap humans have made, from seeing yourself as an individual part of a group that can hide feelings from the others (as in some primates), to seeing yourself as an individual that can hide or dissimulate feelings from yourself. We are the best primates at dissimulating and analysing feelings and "thoughts"
It doesn't mean we have a "spirit" or a "soul" that is beyond us and can be extracted and independant, but it certainly leads us to the illusion of this.
Anyone who has been in a deep coma for a long time will know that once the input of sensations is cut off, the idea of a spiritual "self" beyond the body is an illusion.

Answer 6

the Id? I think, but recently read an article about the MIND (the soul/self/Id/I ? And where was it in the brain, and this could not be found or located as such, so I guess its THAT? The part of us the personality, the spirit? Very deep huh?! I cant wait to see if anyone can come close to a good answer of this one! Nice one!!!!

Answer 7

I believe that it is the self or the id, the part of your mind that is separate from the subconscious. The ego or the outer self. So pretty much the only part of our minds that would care about such trivial things which is the materialistic view of our selves, the view that worries about what other people think of us the view that does not look at the big picture.

Answer 8

remarkable question.......The I that is doing the asking is born out of the thinking, they are one of the same.
There is no thinking unless I am there to think it and there is no I unless there is thinking to confirm it.
But there is always a felt presence of you being there especially if you sit with a quiet mind, still yet very much alive, attentive not concentrating.
Alert choice less awareness.
A mind at rest.
The I identity then has very little meaning.
And I based questions arise less and less.

Answer 9

Who will be answering this question – I as me, or my mind? What do we mean by ‘I’? And then what is our mind that is the house of our consciousness? I am conscious of many things around me, all that make up my world. But I am also conscious of my own individual self – I am conscious of my own consciousness. Who am I? And that is the question we have earnestly sought in all ages of all times.

I can say that I know myself by my surroundings, or my environment. This is my word that is like a mirror to me in which I am able to envisage myself constantly and consistently. But why I do not regard myself as my environment, or why I am able to see my environment or whatever is around me as an externally separate entity. I am physically connected to the world around but I am also able to realise my distinct personal being. What is line of demarcation? Where is that this ‘I’ begins or the external world starts. This however is all in the mind – the world, and my awareness of myself both distinctly con-existing at one place but not as one thing. Even when we say that the real world is not all that is in the mind but it is realistically out there as we the observes are, even when we perceive all that is there including ourselves in the mind, or though it.

If this cannot be all that is there as one whole then there is something more fundamental to human existence than the world or a mere ‘I’ - the Freudian interpretation as a manifestation of our instinctual self. I like good things even when they are not there for my personal gratification. How can I see something good beyond instinctual level? The survival is the prime directive of our instinctual self. As I have seen people sacrificing their lives for their love, country and honour.

There must be something deeper still that manifests itself as a human self – as an I. Something that is more universal than it is individualistic in nature. And this is the point where the smartest of the flyers in thought find themselves humbled and perplexed in excess of wonder. How can something so universal and grand manifest itself as uniquely individualistic and peculiar self? What is purpose behind our creation? What does this mean?

I can say that because we observe this world going round in front of our. We experience time passing; we see things change, as they grow, ripe and decay; we see things age and being replaced; we are aware of momentary changes all around us and in our bodies. This is all so commonplace to us that we hardly notice. We seldom pay any attention to all this. But the point is what in us does not change as everything else about us and around us does?

Answer 10

Delusion. Based on the 64 views.