Is there such a thing that you call your “self”?

[Bob]

If so, describe it.




 

[thalberg]

Soul is self. 

Body is physical matter, spirit comes from God.  When the two meet, they produce a soul, which is our self.

It's like water and dye--when they meet they produce ink.

Or like electricity and a filament, which meet to produce light.

The body makes us conscious of the world through our senses.  The spirit makes us conscious of God through our conscience and intuition.  And the soul makes us conscious of self through our thoughts, feelings, and desires. 

Or this is how the Chinese theologian Watchman Nee saw it..........of course, if you want to see Christians fight, just bring him up.

[pianowolfi]

Yes. It's me. Nobody else can be me. Nobody can say "I" and mean someone else.

[counterpoint]

The mistery is, that some people have got a weak self and others got an over dimensioned self. There seem to be no relation to any measurable feature that is correlated with the strongness/weakness of someone's self.   

[thalberg]

The mistery is, that some people have got a weak self and others got an over dimensioned self. There seem to be no relation to any measurable feature that is correlated with the strongness/weakness of someone's self.   

Quite true!!!

One book describes self as "an awareness a person has of being distinct from others."  I didn't have this when I was younger--the idea that on my own I had distinct identity and worth.  However others felt about me, that was how I felt about myself.  I didn't think independently about my identity.  For me, maturing has meant a strengthening of my sense of self--not becoming selfish, just perhaps being willing to disagree with others' opinions about me or reactions to me.

The "over dimensioned" people you are talking about are very real.  People who see others as an extension of their own limbs.  They say "get me some coffee" and expect an immediate response.  They are all too willing to take away our decisions and do our thinking for us.  They have the illusion that others are of one mind with them.  And if we disagree, we're not being "honest."  We just need to come to our senses and be honest with them and tell them the truth, which is that we really agreed with them all along.  These people do not understand the concept of otherness--the idea that others have free will and a mind of their own.

[debussy symbolism]

If so, describe it.




 

Greetings

That is the thing about it, it is indescribable.

"Self" is not a physical matter; it cannot be found by science. It is also the thing that differentiates a computer from a human being. No matter how complex the computers may become, they still are only programs, and are not really aware of anything. Self is really consciousness, and consciousness cannot be replicated.

[nasalstein]

self? soul? consciousness?

READ GURDJIEFF!!!

[counterpoint]

The "over dimensioned" people you are talking about are very real.  People who see others as an extension of their own limbs. 

Or they just think, other people are inferior and they have the right to use them to make life more comfortable... 

Now, from the teacher's point of view: with a bit of luck we have the opportunity to compensate extreme forms of self worth, be it extreme low or extreme overdimensioned. Not to change the personality, but to make clear, that the cautious, shy and uncertain people should be taken as serious as the brazen-faced ones with the loud voices. Often the wisest people are the most uncertain and humble at the same time.

[thalberg]

to make clear, that the cautious, shy and uncertain people should be taken as serious as the brazen-faced ones with the loud voices. Often the wisest people are the most uncertain and humble at the same time.

YES--this can be so unfortunate.  The wisest people are so often the quietest and the quickest to doubt themselves.  After all--that's how they got wise!  By doubting, by saying "hey maybe I'm not right about this" and by opening themselves to new knowledge.

Good people, wise people, very often doubt that they are right.  That's what makes them SO EASY for rotten and stupid people to manipulate.  Rotten and stupid people are always a hundred percent convinced that they are right, and wise people often defer to that.

The best thing is when good and wise people acquire enough self-esteem to stand their ground.  That's when life gets really good....but unfortunately, good and wise people often suffer tremendously before they get to this point.

[fiddes]

has anyone thought that maybe there is a billion different worlds out there and each is the imagination of a person living in there

We may not exist as such and when that person dies then the world is blinkered out and we no longer exist, all our thoughts feelings memories heck the entire history of the human race could be the imagination of 1 person

would be scary knowing that nothing is real not even yourself

[prometheus]

Quite true!!!

Do did god give them a damaged soul? How can the spirit become damaged if only the body gets damaged in a car accident? How come that when someone gets brain damage their god given soul starts to dysfunction as well?

And metally retarded people, does god them just give half a soul?
 
What about people without a consciousness, psychopats, etc. How do you explain that in terms of a soul?

[wishful thinker]

Mind and soul, are theoligically, not the same thing at all 

Anyway, I though we were talking about "self"

[counterpoint]

has anyone thought that maybe there is a billion different worlds out there and each is the imagination of a person living in there

We may not exist as such and when that person dies then the world is blinkered out and we no longer exist, all our thoughts feelings memories heck the entire history of the human race could be the imagination of 1 person

would be scary knowing that nothing is real not even yourself

That's almost the same as Scriabin view of he world. This philosophy has a name, it's called Solipsism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solipsism
 

[fiddes]

can honestly say ive never heard of that before but it is near pin point what i was saying :-p is rather scary because the more people who think it the more it may be true??? (works for religion)