We believe we are a Self because we experience a continuity throughout our lives. 'I started kindergarten when I was 5. I got my first job when I was 18. I got married when I was 32...' etc. Believing we are a Self (ie 'having an innate, unchanging soul') is a simple way to understand ourselves. It is, however, possible to have a continuity without being a Self.
Really interesting post, and I agree that the mismatch between the current obsession with identity and what we know about the human condition from millennia of (particularly Eastern) philosophy could not be more starkly polarised. I've been struggling to articulate this tension for a while, and it also seems obvious that most of the labelling and striving for identity seems to do nothing but feed the ego, which is undoutedly threatened by all the current and historic factors you mention in this blog.
Have you read anything by Douglas Harding or Richard Lang? Really interesting take on the points you introduce here about how the world, and your place in it, looks radically different from your own perspective versus that of another person. Not only from those two perspectives though: there are an unfathomable number of ways any individual can be perceived, and crucially NONE of these can ever be the complete picture of a true, authentic self. I think there's a lot of truth in this approach, and find it quite helpful in navigating life. Once you know that the search for your 'true essence' is a fruitless one, it resolves a lot of issues.
There's definitely a lot to explore in relation to online life too, and the way it might threaten our sense of self - when a lot of what we used to think was good about the internet was its anonymity and its ability to break down barriers. What a shame that's turned out to be another utopian dream!
Wise words again Gia. Thank you
Really interesting post, and I agree that the mismatch between the current obsession with identity and what we know about the human condition from millennia of (particularly Eastern) philosophy could not be more starkly polarised. I've been struggling to articulate this tension for a while, and it also seems obvious that most of the labelling and striving for identity seems to do nothing but feed the ego, which is undoutedly threatened by all the current and historic factors you mention in this blog.
Have you read anything by Douglas Harding or Richard Lang? Really interesting take on the points you introduce here about how the world, and your place in it, looks radically different from your own perspective versus that of another person. Not only from those two perspectives though: there are an unfathomable number of ways any individual can be perceived, and crucially NONE of these can ever be the complete picture of a true, authentic self. I think there's a lot of truth in this approach, and find it quite helpful in navigating life. Once you know that the search for your 'true essence' is a fruitless one, it resolves a lot of issues.
There's definitely a lot to explore in relation to online life too, and the way it might threaten our sense of self - when a lot of what we used to think was good about the internet was its anonymity and its ability to break down barriers. What a shame that's turned out to be another utopian dream!