what value in knowing yourself?

Answer 1

Not knowing oneself is likened to a reed sinking and surfacing, adrift and without destiny, and swirling around undetermined in the waves. Being adrift, one could inflict harm to others and oneself without awareness.

Knowing oneself gives purpose and power, and most importantly prevents inauthentic moves that undermine the integrity of the self. Mindful living leads one to a certain clarity of perspective that decreases the adverse effects of living.

Answer 2

For argument's sake, I will disagree with everyone. There is NO value of knowing yourself. That's why we have phrases like "ignorance is bliss" (we'll ignore "know thyself" and "the truth shall set you free"). If you knew your TRUE self you would hang your head in shame and be disgusted. Who you are is not just who you are, it's who your parents were. It doesn't stop there; it's who their parent's parent's parents were. That just barely scratches the surface.

Every deep dark subconscious secret concerning lust, murder, deceit, etc. is who you truly are. You are mean spirited, selfish, and cruel deep down inside. What value is there in knowing that? To anybody who's ever been in a Christian church this is not new news, you already knew that you were being judged not by your actions but by those very sinful parts of you. But for those people who abstain from church (myself included) this is all arguable.

I mean, if you don't believe in God, or even if you don't believe in every word of the Bible, then you would be saying "no, newborn babies are NOT born in 'sin' and they actually are innocent." You might argue for the humanitarian in you, believing in a creative, loving, hopeful, kind-hearted, life-saving warm and gooey center to you. I would have a difficult time arguing with you, as I believe myself to be a (generally) "good" person and I know and love a great deal of "good" people. But that's what I know of them, I do not know how many times they've ignored injustices and genocide on the news because it cut into their personal time. I do not know what deep dark secrets they hide from others and, possibly, even themselves.

I know that the choice we are supposed to make is to better know ourselves. Philosophy, literature, music, and Hollywood tell us all of this. But if I were really in a "Matrix" type situation where I had to choose between the truths and live in a harsher reality or the fiction of living in my own made up world I think I would choose the fictions. I would never know the truth and could not be harmed by it. Yes, it is cowardly - but I wouldn't know that. So, the value in knowing yourself would actually be that you would know what a horrible person you really are, deep down inside.

With all of that being said, there is no reason we all shouldn't try to get to know ourselves better. Maybe not learn everything all at once, but a little at a time so that hopefully we can change those bad parts of ourselves. If nothing else we can have hope

Answer 3

Getting to know yourself is a fascinating and rewarding journey. Most of my young life I conformed to what others thought was right, this extended into my working life. Since I retired, I have discovered parts of me that I couldn't have imagined existed.

I am still me, but now more excited at the prospect of discovering more about myself. My only regret is, I wish I had given myself more time to know me, and not wasted so much time projecting an image I thought was me.

The best way to start is, always be honest with yourself and be brave enough to be honest with others. Be kind to yourself, nurture your dreams and do something different. If you fail, you learn, if you succeed, you learn. Either way is always better than neither way.

Answer 4

The value is vast and unlimited. With self knowledge you know who you are, you know why your are, and you know where you are going.
Knowing yourself allows the possibilities of gaining the future and sidestepping failures that lay in waiting for you. Knowing yourself is a foundation that you can build a life worth living.

Answer 5

Can’t help but know self. Although like in all things that we know, we’re not quit hitting the nail bang on the head. You could say the only way we can know anything is through knowing our self. Like a reflection of a reflection receding ripples like. “We are all of one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. There is no such thing as death. Life is but a dream in which we are an imagination of our self” or some such life like I like life like.

Answer 6

This is a silly question, the answers are obvious.
Life is rather difficult if you don't know yourself, you'll keep making mistakes and get on everyone's nerves.

Answer 7

Our real eternal Self is who we are so the value is actual happiness and eternal bliss. But practically no one knows this. IT is a very rare soul who comes to their actual transcendental constitutional position and realization. I am so glad I have found myself.

Answer 8

The benefits are in being able to accept yourself, which leads to loving yourself. This helps you to feel more comfortable in your skin and less likely to allow others to ride roughshod over you. It also helps you to plan your path in life.

Answer 9

Life is evolution. Improvement.
Knowing yourself means discovering weaknesses for improvement.

Answer 10

Setting achievable goals. Many a cart horse dreamed of being a race horse, but couldn't win a race.