Who Am I? - A Thought Experiment That Changes How You Think About Yourself
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It is a prevailing goal in life to be yourself. We want to be authentic and self-honest -- and we should. But when we think about this, we inevitably encounter the problem: who even are we? In this video, we explore the illusory notion of the 'self', how 'you' technically don't have one, and the ways in which you can still be your true self in spite of its mysterious, illusive nature.
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I would say the self is a all-encompassing infinite concept
👉 The Connections (2021) [short documentary] 💖
Final question is why it's me?????????
Sounds kinda boring is there a way to interrupt this kind of poem without yawning
Have you read The Forth Way?
This reminds me of my favorite quote from Dune: "Life is not a mystery to solve, but a reality to experience."
Praise Shai Hulud
@@theimmortalfroge2681 bless the Maker and His water
👉 The Connections (2021) [short documentary] 💖
I'm pretty sure Kierkegaard said that
@@hertegovinul7564 yeah me too
Strangely the people with extreme long-term memory loss are probably closer to who we really are than anyone with great memory recall capability.
And yet there is no such thing like distance between you and how you act. In the end, it's all you.
Damn true! I'm one such case 😐
great to see you here mike
great to see you here mike
Why not a newborn babe? 👶I prefer the cries of *ONE* babe to "Everywhere at the End of Time" by The Caretaker. One is a song of visceral thirst, longing, and burning potential.🌱The other is a dirge of hungering darkness, confusion , and total dissolution somehow worse than death.🕳They are similar, but entirely different.
The quote by Emerson hits hard for me. I've made a lot of mistakes in my life, and my own past behaviour puzzled me which later stemmed from undiagnosed complex-PTSD from events I lived through when I was much younger. Thinking back on who I was 20, 10, or even 3 years ago feels like reflecting upon a totally different person who I have to accept was me.
im quite the opposite, i feel like never changed...
Your right, we all tend to funnel down. What I mean on that note is we tend to go down the rabbit hole. Then occasionally we have memory of a time loop of who we really don’t know who we are, and that’s really creepy. Start to listen to teal swan, and listen to Christina lopes, and through in there joe dispenza. It’s you, all you, and perhaps we both need to come up with the will, the will of god to figure it out. At some point something happens, we try to fit in, we get turned around, put down for some reason and our spirit gets broke due to a chain of events we have no control over. There’s 2 aspects of our existence, mind and emotions, having the mind to make the correct decisions, and having the will to think with our emotions to control the ending result.
I embraced that years ago, we humans contradict ourselves by nature, so why bother?
@@8koi139 what do you mean?
@@heartofthunder1440 Spot on.
I don't know who I am or what that question means at this point, I'm just living an experience and try to make this experience as good as possible not through hedonism but through self development, through exercise, eating healthy, making KZhead videos as my creative outlet, etc...
What is your passion? Your thing that you feel like you can create something beautifully unique
@@florentin4061 making KZhead videos and writing poems
@@florentin4061 I been adding poems to my videos lately too, mixing the two
me too! i feel like at least if i dive into different things that are positive for my mind and body, eventually i’ll come to a point where i am familiar with myself and what chose to identify with
Discover your true self : kzhead.info/channel/PLq_eNPYSeL2LUFEKL_j6dLTq888R2wacq.html
I am just the witness of all that's around me and within me.
And a witness to ones actions, inactions abs thoughts
But where is that witness ?
Wow beautifully yet simply put
@@matthewcollins4222 That is the true nature of self ,the witness or the observer. Although It cannot be perceived by sensory organs, it is distinct from the phenomenon of cause and effect and has no identity.
You should also witness this 👉 Dominion (2018)
I used to be afraid of dying, and that led to a massive fear of his going to sleep, since you're pretty much dying very time you lose consciousness. I got over both once I realized the thing I thought was dying didn't exist to begin with, so there's no loss in either process, since the self is just a process as well. Oh and it's impossible to not be yourself. Even if you're emulating certain characteristics of someone else that's just a desire that you have encouraging you to do so.
I’m currently experiencing this almost daily after a loss of a family member, any tips on how to overcome this ?
@@rosszy I am sorry for your loss. Unfortunately I have no tips on how to overcome it. I just know it takes time and for everyone it's different. My condolences for your loss.🥀🕊
Realising I’m a verb rather than a noun has also removed my fear of death.Wasn’t expecting this existential paradigm shift from a young tube video.
@@rosszy talk to someone about it, remember those we lost fondly, and cherish those we can still say “hello” to today. I hope you overcome your grief and my condolences to you and your family.
Im not afraid to die I am afraid of the process of it. The experience of it. I used to have this dread at night when I thought of dying. But I got over it by accepting the fact that it will happen, and whenever I have a dread or anxiety of something unknown in the future it is almost never as bad as you imagine. Time is not linear the universe is huge. You will be back in some way shape or form
I see myself more as just a story. A tale of events that stretches beyond and before my current existence. I am not my body or mind but my actions and only those actions that are remembered.
..Ich bin nicht mein Körper oder Geist, sondern die Seele an die man sich erinnert durch meine Handlungen im Jetzt. -Das BewusstSein
I think who we are is the spacetime we occupy. The continuous physical space at a specific times that nobody else can occupy. The time and space we take up in other minds as we exist. The time and space of all the results of everything we’ve ever interacted with. That’s what death really is. We stop occupying anything as a singular concept.
But this begs the question: should you be held accountable of past actions? If who you were 10 years ago is completely different than who you are now, and you have a complete contrast of mindset. People only know who you are as a memory. No one will ever understand who you are now, as you will have evolved mentally, ever so slightly. This was a great concept and will have me thinking for months :)
Well, I wouldn't say "completely different" and it's hardly ever going to be a "complete contrast" of mindset but yes, you should be held accountable because every judicial system punishes the body, not the mind of the transgressor. And the body doesn't change (apart from the cell renewal process).
@@nvmffs splendid answer. Thank you for the response:)
Yes you should be accountable because it was an action that your past self did in other words it “was” you, you could have learned something about the action that made you change to a different person but was the change for “better or worse” this could be subjective to the individual if is not presented to a broader group of people that can say with more certainty if you have a twisted morality, even if it was the past self it was still you, they are all part of you (past,present and future).
@@navigator590 yes!! You are totally right. No matter what we are who we are. The only way to account for past situations is to take accountability and a genuine response to right them. Thank you for the insight, it shall live forever within the crevasses of my noggin🕺
@@navigator590 Can you elaborate on twisted morality? I only ask because morality evolves with time and I don't believe you should be judged today for an opinion that was mainstream 20 years ago (as long as you abandoned the "twisted" mindset). I also put twisted in quotes because almost anything can be considered twisted by a group of people but perfectly normal to others (e. g. Religion, BDSM, Tattoos...) Hope you see where I'm coming from, as I'm not being confrontational, justo very curious about this subject with no judging whatsoever. Cheers!
In the last two years of my life, I've lost all sense of purpose and emotion. I've become numb to external factors that affect my life. Lost my family, friends and all ties to the outside world. I wish those who read this to reach out to those they love, as one day you might lose it all
Have faith in yourself dear friend. You are still alive, and lot more years to come in future. Time will change and you will carry on over this phase. Your message is truly important. Have faith in yourself everything will be fine.
🤗
Hello stranger, I know how you feel because I can relate to what you said. However, never underestimate the power of human spirit. Its because of that that I keep on living. You may feel this way for now, but it will not last long. Much love and take care! :)
I will, to those i haven't lost already. Bro, I wish you to find love and to find the true self.
may they and what they meant to you, live on through your memories and actions. take care friend.
The eternal question. Likely at the core of philosophy itself
Right next to the question: "What is philosophy?"
@@Rithmy What is a question?
Never in my life have I heard a string of words that brought me to tears that wasn’t a part of a song or movie/play. I came to this video wanting to figure out who I am. Now all I want is to experience the best life I possibly can. Thank you.
You are here to seek the Divine and to return home to Heaven, period..............................Falun Dafa
It puts you into a state where nothing matters in a good way. You truly don't give a shit about anything and you're just happy as fuck as a result, because nothing matters. Nothing matters, nothing means anything, there's nothing to do, there's no point, there's no goal but there's also no boredom, there's no negative meanings attached to the meaninglessness, it's just perfectly meaningless and it's awesome. You're basically just like sitting like a cat on a windowsill enjoying whatever experience is before it, just being and it feels amazing. 🦄
All the blessings that you receive in life are based upon your actions in previous lifetimes, everyone gets what they deserve....................Falun Dafa
beautiful timing. I wrote this yesterday: Everyday, shit changes. Everyday, I change and I hope everyday, you change. I guess you can call that freedom. If you have the courage to see that way.
And be vegan! Dominion (2018)
woah
Experience of change is the greatest gift we can possess, the present moment is life and death in motion.
just leave the "I" out
'To be great is to be misunderstood' Bang on Ralphie boy, I've been misunderstood my whole life and all the time I thought I was the problem. It's only recently in my late 50s and early 60s I've realised I'm fine, it's just everyone else that doesn't get me. Turns out I'm officially a genius. Spent a lot of time blaming myself for just being different and smart. I no longer do that, everyone can just damned well catch up or carry on living their mediocre lives
I too connected with that quote. In a sense every new thing is something that is not understood first. To not understand has the potential to learn new. Don'T blame yourself for that, even if it were your fault. As long as we try to connect to each other and as long as we try to be understood, there is nothing to blame, nothing to regret. What i mean is that we should not set our most important priority as "being understandable". But we also should not discard it completly (don't be misunderstandable on purpose i guess). The very act of trying to be understandable to someone else is a process of learning. Such a process has great value.
I can relate to that except of the (officially) genius part.
na bro...it seems like u r the problem
if everyone has the problem with u then surely u should improve urself rather than using the above video as an excuse to hide ur insecurities
@@farhanmunawar2420 :') It is ok, bruh. I choose solitude of delusions above social conformity (JK, I'm working on it, don't ya worry, thank you for the concern). I never thought that I am smarter than anyone else but then I tried some psychedelics (legal in NL). Can't argue with God. Don't ya worry, my interpretations (of the trips) are just my interpretations, I know.
I think that the illusion is not only the self but rather the narrow idea we like to believe in, that anything is constant. A logical mind will always find order in chaos... even if that order is just a straight lie. Damn! This is exactly what i was looking for for 20 years. Even made me a bit teary. I can't find the right words to reflect this video's greatness.
7:35
yes thats great,this is why Buddhism is so true
I feel like the only way we can really find true peace is by uncovering who we are, because, in essence, that's exactly what we are. Just a thought.
thats both scary and relieving.
But who you are is always changing and thus you must constantly find yourself
@@barretthenderson5808 but we are noticing all that changes in our experience. That which is being noticed is not us..its sort of a paradox to find the experiencer if there is any.
@@barretthenderson5808 only the superficial self changes. Your true self remains the same. If you can lose it, it's not you, including feelings of happiness and sadness, memories, and the like. Your true self is peace only. Everything else is just decoration.
@@NatNat-uu9cs missed the entire point of the video
I went into a deep depression 4 years ago because I went down a tangent from this thought alone. I ruminated in solitude which probably fuelled it even more. I’m still struggling and it’s taken so much of whatever it is I am. Too scared to actually end it all too. I am not living or existing. Wouldn’t wish this on anyone, it’s a hellish purgatory.
Start going to the gym and training, set small and big goals, read mark Manson subtle art it’s a good book for someone like me and many others who gives fucks about everything, these things helped me a lot, also if it’s that bad go to a therapist, you’ll be fine my friend
About depression: Do a research (e.g. on KZhead) about "Magic Mushrooms" and its healing content "Psilocybin". Nothing helps as good as Psilocybin/Psilocin against depression. And nothing that helps does it with less unwanted side effects. On "Shrooms" you can get a completely new sight on the "big topics". Deepest spiritual insights and answers to the biggest philosophical questions.
Spirituality isn't about woo woo. It's a practical, grounded experience of Self discovery. Many ways to approach this, but I've found the work of Eckhart Tolle, Rupert Spira, Ramana Maharshi talks, etc to be very helpful and many lectures free online. A Course in Miracles is free in audiobook in KZhead and like $20 for the text (and workbook) online, that's basically like a self-study 12 step program of ego psychology and out of suffering. Some very short works like Bhagavad Gita or Dao De Ching or even the tarot can shift things around too. I like the Letting Go book by Dr. David Hawkins, got me crying and releasing all that built up crap. Many many great KZhead channels, I like Aaron Abke a lot. Meditation and stillness are indispensable. Shadow work and Jungian style active imagination and dream recording/interpretation helps. Anxiety/depression is pointing toward the pain/fear, it's a better teacher than any intricate yoga pose, the teacher is within. Cooperate with your subconscious, it's fun to experience how it's operating inside you. If you're here, then you're VERY CLOSE to getting out of the suffering from the mind maze of ego -- I hope you'll continue because I think you'll find that your life is just beginning. Just some ideas to help pull you out of the rut. It took me about 1 year to go from authoring my last wishes and my suicide letter to genuinely being excited for lived experience again. Enjoy the journey, inner peace is already inside of you, silently waiting to be revealed.
Seek Jesus my friend🙂
@@EDVDompteur Definitely what you said! Mushrooms saved my life.
When I was 7 My brother once told me that if I ask myself who am I over and over you will start feeling weird & will get to this weird point where you won't recognize your own thoughts or voice or self. I can't explain it but it's one of the most scariest and almost like your conscious and sense of self detaches from your body and well it's almost like you enter this realm of absolute awareness. I keep searching for those exact words, repeating who am I, who am I and see if anyone else has experienced/described something similar. I really can't explain this sense of being self aware yet being completely detached from that moment exactly at the same time. Where everything hits you, every thought, realization of the life you have lived, it's to difficult to put into words.
Your personal recount reminded me of a user on reddit who posted something similar to this which led to him having an existential crisis. He hasn't posted since.
@@H3adx it's even hard for me to post this bc it's that difficult to put into words. The only way I can explain it is like your there and if you continue to ask yourself that you know how in movies you can see a person thinking and the scene cuts to this point blank dot and it's nothing. Or like a robot coming to the conclusion that they are a robot. Even putting it the way I just did doesn't seem right. It's being completely and absolutely aware and almost like your brain has been completely shut off of auto pilot and everything except your sense of self being is left.
@@H3adx I wouldn't try doing it either unless your ready to experience something that you might not be able to un do. I even recently asked my brother who taught you, or where did you get the idea to ask yourself who am I over and over until you reach this point. He said all he remembers is being around 6 or 7 and sitting on the toilet asking himself that exact question over and over. Who am I who am I and took him a good few years of finally reaching that point that I'm trying to put into words. But the way that you put it, an existential crisis is leading that experience. I know when I first tried it I did for 30 min straight and well... it happened to me.
@@sonnygL7 sounds like enlightenment to me!! lol. is it a blissful state to be in?? how old was your brother? he must have been reading Sri Ramana Maharshi, this was his technique. x
@@markobrien4332 yes I was going to mention Ramana Maharshi because his primary method of self enquiry was all focussed on asking yourself who am I. If you direct all your attention on this then the illusory person dissolves and only awareness remains.
You never cease to amaze me how well you get to summarize the most complex answers to the most important questions in under 10 minutes! I see the beauty in your philosophy, even more so when I think of the psychological/philosophical concepts that you indirectly refer to (Projection bias, Theseus' ship, Dasein, etc.)
The spiritual answer is that you are consciousness or awareness itself. You could take away someone's memory but what they are does not change. If you take away someone's concept of what they are, it doesn't change what we are, only what happens mentally for them. The sense of self is an illusion and always changing to match our identity. The actual self alone is unbound by any circumstances or experience. What you are is unchanging, pure consciousness but we have the experience of believing our self is a body and an identity. The Self is the only true constant of experience and is the source of all existence.
Wonderful comment! I think this is touching upon the concept of our relationship with "god," whether we conceive of god as some kind of Cosmic Muffin or a wise old man. We need a superior source of existence as a mirror. Some see only their unadorned image in the mirror, while others see connections that are a large, solid link between the self and the world outside.
@@gprang God is not apart or separate from you
@@BackroadBender what you said is so similar to adi shankaracharya advaita And bhuddhism
@@krishnajhawar4055 yes. The knowledge of who we are is already out there for us
We are the sum of our experiences... lifes accumulating info or knowledge.. education from anything anyone any situation.... the sculpture and sculptor.. art in motion until we keel over
Maybe it would be great to mention what Sam Harris is also saying: That the Illusion of the self can be cut through and on the otherside is a boundless centerless consciousness. Freedom from psychological suffering. That’s the real practice of meditation.
I love that. This is beautiful thank you for bringing this up
Without suffering there is no purpose. Without purpose there is no existence.
@@CB-nd4hnHe has a meditation course on his app waking up and it is fascinating
@@41alone purpose is a projection of a desire. it doesn't actually exist
@@41alone How could you be truly free if you had a purpose,or even a reason for being your here being this for no reason what so-ever and no reason is needed for anything what so-ever
Lately I’ve been able to experience others as different versions of the same life, but sometimes the differences are great enough to focus more on the differences than the sameness. It’s a challenging and worthwhile goal to open myself up enough to be able to fit all life in all shapes and sizes within my sense of self. If the self is an illusion/creation, then we might as well make ourselves as wonderful as possible. And we can’t be full of wonder if we block out parts of Life ❤️🙏🏼
Wake up babe, new existential crisis just dropped.
It is not related to existential crisis or nihilism, I think it is related to consciousness and selfness.. Note: I replied to your comment a year later , allow me to ask you how's your existential crisis? 😅
😂
Who I am and what I am is a very important distinction!!! I surrender to higher self thru meditation and prayer. Be still and know I am God. Is working so beautifully in my life. The serendipity in my life is beyond amazing. That still small voice is getting bigger and clearer all the time
Which voice?
You need a great teacher and Falun Dafa is it.
I genuinely appreciate your brilliance, work, and videos. And because you remind me to keep an open mind as I continue to evolve as a man and human being. 🧚🏻♂️
At this point I don’t the question “who am I?” matters. I see it more of “what could I be?” I wanna make myself someone new everyday and be more excited to breathe everyday.
Isn't that the same question?
Being yourself is weird. Who we are is like a product of everything we've experienced. It would be amazing if we can just Being lazy and have what we want all the time, but those uncomfortable times we had to endure are always the best stories and lessons
You are here to seek the Divine and to return home to Heaven........................Falun Dafa
Whoa. Never have one of your videos coincided so perfectly with what I was feeling and needed to hear. Thank you
Welcome to Vedanta my dear friend..! All objects are perceived by the senses. The senses are, in turn, perceived by the mind. The mind, in turn, is a movement that unfolds in Awareness. Awareness is not perceived by any other structure. It is its own perceiving.
Hope you realise everything you said.
A subtle wind…
What is Vedanta
@@myrtila Advaita Vedanta is a branch of Hinduism directly looking at the nature of consciousness. The pinnacle of eastern spirituality in my opinion.
This is exactly what has been pressing me over the last few months. The universe consistently surprises me with synchronicities, putting me deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole.
Recognize and break your patterns.
Then you might enjoy Dr K and his lecture about enlightenment and the true self. kzhead.info/sun/p6yYos6wjpODrJE/bejne.html
Welcome to life. I find it healthy to think about such topics reguarly. Those are existantial questions. And i am currently existing (i belief). So guess it all fits together to create the unfolding of life.
"We are things that labor under the illusion of having a self. A secretion of sensory experience and feeling. Programmed with total assurance that we are each somebody. When in fact everybody is nobody."
Who said this!!? And I agree this is why sexism n racism makes 0 sense I really could’ve been in the place of others even those who I think are “scum” or “despicable” I could’ve been in their position and succumbed (yes I believe in accountability and consequences of actions but environment n upbringing is heavy as hell as well). This is why I’m forgiving of others, but I try to not allow myself to be fooled once more, because maybe in their place I might’ve wronged myself. We all are living and conscious I hope time, ourselves, people and places are less harsh on our minds.
For sure, yes. I read somewhere once: everybody is nobody, wanting to be somebody.
I LOVED this video! Constantly evolving and growing. Can't wait to share! Thank you.
It's strangely dystopian that such a thought provoking video needs a sponsor
Beautiful & thought provoking, a very well worded & thought out video.
“Is there anything that truly persists through it all?” Yes, I’m forever miserable. I was miserable as a child. I was miserable as a teenager. I’m still miserable as an adult. I’m sure I’ll be even more miserable as an old man.
You are here to seek the Divine and to return home to Heaven........................Falun Dafa
I remember the first night I watched “the perfect amount of awful”. It was during a rather harsh quarantine and my previously “perfect”/proactive live had been cut off. I realized I had nothing and completely lost my sense of self. That video saved me. I love this channel and it’s people and I woke up from that quarantine a completely different person.
The self is like a landscape. A landscape starts with certain features and is shaped over time by the forces around it, and eventually it becomes unrecognisable, something else. Loved the video, BTW
Beautiful! I've heard somewhere that we are dissipative structures, just as rainbows, tornados, or waterfalls. Ever changing from each nanosecond to the next, and yet appearing to be constantly the same. But ultimately, on an elementary level, this applies to everything there is.
can u think of the source? this sounds fascinating
@@jharris548 Unfortunately not, I guess I have pieced this together from different sources. From popular science KZhead channels to a brief mention by, I think, Jordan Peterson, so it's quite mixed. I couldn't pin it down to a single source.
@@jharris548 However, I could try to go into more detail myself about this concept, if you're interested.
My brother always says that repetition is understanding and for these topics that are profound, each time I come back to them, I see them in different ways. But your videos always brings a fresh, new perpscetive. The way you narrate and creates the stories is also awesome! Thank you very much for making these videos.
You are here to seek the Divine and to return home to Heaven........................Falun Dafa
I have always felt like myself. A self that changes due to experience, but is an essential me that is aware of all the changes.
love your videos, the portrayal of ideas and the usage of words- are impeccable.
I like to think that I am not “me”, “myself”, “my body” I am everything put together. I would not be who I am or be myself without everything in the cosmos and everyone we are all one. Connected from nature.
Read "Prem ras siddhant" book English version
I remember reading a famous text from the well-known "Bhagavad Gita (2.13)" which states that dehino ’smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā tathā dehāntara-prāptir dhīras tatra na muhyati Translation As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change. Since every living entity is an individual soul, each is changing his body every moment, manifesting sometimes as a child, sometimes as a youth, and sometimes as an old man. Yet the same spirit soul is there and does not undergo any change. This individual soul finally changes the body at death and transmigrates to another body, and it is sure to have another body in the next birth (re-incarnation). Such changes in the body account for varieties of enjoyment or suffering, according to one’s work in life (Karma). Any man who has perfect knowledge of the constitution of the individual soul (the self), the Supersoul (God), and nature - both material and spiritual - is called a dhīra, or the soberest person. Such a person is never deluded by the change of body.
To be yourself is to be present. Who am I? I am the part of me that knows I exist.... Great video 👏🏽
Highly insightful, as all of your uploads. Thanks so much for doing this! Respect.
I asked myself this while tripping, can't remember details but I've been trying to grow spiritually ever since, going well so far
Same
You, like everyone else, need a great teacher. You are here to seek the Divine and to return home to Heaven........................Falun Dafa
There’s a weightlessness that leaves our body when we die, as strangely as it comes at birth.. I like to think that awareness is me. These body’s, this planet, and our experiences, thoughts, ideas.. they’re all just vessels, temporary like our moment in time. Like the universe, all we’re doing is learning, what works and what doesn’t. Who we are and who we’re not
The words you painted the ending of this video with will undoubtedly “itself” be quoted by one you’ve inspired on their canvas, their chosen light to inspire one day in the future. This I’m sure. Thanks for all you do and’ve done.
These videos provide me with so much perspective and help me find what i really want out of life.
This was worded and presented so beautifully, such an incredible thing it is to be apart of this human experience ❤️
Reailty doesn't have parts
@@robertjsmith wdym?
@@agentvic1565 in Buddhism it is realised that the self is an illusion
Read "Prem ras siddhant" book English version
I am a strange loop.
This just blew my mind 🤯. Also, I don’t know if you wrote it or were quoting something, but the commentary during the closing minute or so was absolutely beautiful and completely transcendent. Pure poetry! Loved this. Thanks 🙏💛
You are here to seek the Divine and to return home to Heaven........................Falun Dafa
i love your content, this is just what i was looking for! keep it up
Incredible. I think this gotta be the best video of yours so far.
It is uncanny to me, how over the past few months, you have released videos pertaining to concepts I have wondered during the time before the release of said video. This, is one of those videos. It gives me great belief in Carl Jung's collective unconscious. Thank you for your videos man. I truly think they help us push our personal and collective unconsciousness' forward.
Some of those concepts are truly timeless. I can only speak for me but he could have released the video anywhere in the timespan from 10 years ago to perhaps 50 years in the future and it would always be the case that i would have wondered about those concept.
Thank you so much for creating this thought experiment PoW. You've always been a massive inspiration for my own content. My thoughts below: I think when trying to figure out _"Who Am I?",_ we need to embrace the idea that we _have_ the capacity to choose, while fully acknowledging that it may be very difficult to bring forth a chosen vision of oneself to reality. The momentum of our history is an extremely powerful burden to overcome and should not be understated. However, all of those experiences and past weight do not have to be our destiny. In order to enact serious change, we first need to figure out who we _want_ to be. Once we've answered the questions about our future that are important to us, we will have clarified the exact difference between this realistic ideal and our current state. We now have a north star to help guide the way we interpret our own thoughts and decisions. When an aberrant thought or feeling arises, we can then ask if it aligns with this higher conception of ourselves. Is there some rational part of us that is bringing forth a genuine concern to our conscious mind so that a problem can be resolved? Or is this thought a deceptive trojan horse, designed to wreak havoc and revert ourselves back to a state of internal chaos so a prior state of mind can take over again? The actual content of our highest ideal can change, but that connection we have with ourselves should not. I would argue that as long as we are connected with our accrued wisdom, our internal voice of reason, the lens of consciousness that looks upon ourselves with love and optimism, our inner self, we can never truly be astray.
Read "Prem ras sidhhant" book English version
This is a rip off of someone else’s content
There is no one thing that is "yourself". Many things go into what makes you, "you". While we have a body, we look at our bodies as "us", of course. When that body is inevitably long gone, becoming part of the endless cycle once again, the body you once inhabited may be gone, but the concept of "you" will always be here. Even if no one alive remembers you, because eventually this will be true for everyone and everything, "you" are still you. You are you and you _always will be_ you. No one else, nothing else, will ever live the same experiences as _you_ did, and that's what you are. Or at least, that's how I've thought about this kinda thing for a while now : )!!
I Needed This . Thank You so much 💚
Who am I, I Am, I the whole, Am is me. Easy, that simple. The Hermetic teachings already pondered this question and answered it tens of thousands of years ago, "all paradoxes can be resolved" The Kybalion, as taught. The amusement of modern day thinking, paradoxes and questions make me smile, people seeking the answers to questions that already have the answers, all you need do is look and listen, the only thing that is constant is change.
Where can I find these teachings
@@Jaxan-dq2jy Search for The Kybalion, watch a lecture by Mark Passio - Natural Law Seminar - New Haven, CT. Three parts. Take care and Good journey.
I love how you put it, Being who you Become, then Being who you Become, etc. Self-Awareness has been both the greatest Gift and Curse at times. I would say that your whole Present-State Awareness (or your ongoing 'Nowness' and all that it contains) would count as your continuous "Self." The trouble seems to lie in how we overcomplicate, or can't accept that present moment and all it brings--forcing expectations and/or fantasies onto it, and then 'transcend' it into a re-presentation/projection of the present moment, instead of remaining in it as it is---as we ARE. It's not something to achieve or reach, it's something to Rest and Move IN, as long as we Live. "Be Water My Friend"
nice
TREMENDOUS! TREMENDOUS! Amazing, just amazing, thank you for sharing your incredible art
i just discovered this channel yesterday and i absolutely love it. it makes me feel like someone hears me, someone cares and someone is there. but please slow down a bit, you talk kinda fast. thank you!
I sustained a TBI when I was 18, I restarted in infancy stage. Forgot mostly everything about my past. I have since then remembered most of my last, but everyone around me tells me I’m a completely different person than I was before. I in absolutely no way feel like a different person at all. I never lost my since of self through that, and in fact denied and couldn’t accept the fact that I injured my brain because if that’s the case then why wouldn’t I remember getting hit by a car? Made no sense to my infancy stage brain.
You can’t give a shit about separate people’s projection of who they thought 💭 you were and who they now think you are; it’s always been and always will be irrelevant… I was struck by a train whilst I was walking to school 🏫 in San Francisco, 2013. Won a lawsuit against the city Government and the CALtrain company and the intersection was fixed in 2015 after I won. You **must** figure out how to trust yourself, first.
Thankyou I understood. I believe we continually become ourselves in growing in experience . Memories of baby , the 2 year old, the six year old going to school On and on time marches on and on. Change marches with time.
This is so beautiful and cathartic. Thank you.
That quote from Fernando Pessoa hit me hard. I find it really hard to sum up, articulate and make sense of some of my own thoughts and feelings but that quote resonated as if I'd wrote it myself, for myself 🤯
Thank you for your work and dedication to this channel ❤️
As a Portuguese person, I was surprised you included a Fernando Pessoa poem 😭 kudos to you man fr you rock! 🙏
Yooo I just found out you have a podcast!! I love all your videos and the way they make you think about life. I also find your voice so soothing ngl. I cant wait to listen to your podcast all day during work!
So Much Love!❤️🧡💛💚💙💜
3:34 this part is kind of odd for me, because... well I'm closer to who I was 15 years ago than I am to who I was 2 years ago. When I was young, I wanted nothing more than to make music and play with sound. Even as a child my first sounds were as I understand it the sounds of a trumpet solo I had heard one time. But over time, my mom's oppressive narcissism forced that out of me, and for a long while I was what she wanted me to be: an ordinary generic "science guy". But when I went to college, something clicked inside me. The degree I was taking, that old generic science guy degree, didn't fit. I hated it with every fiber of my being. I found myself drawn to the sounds of music again, and I changed my degree to music technology much to my mom's absolutely hateful protest. After being in that degree for a year and a half, I managed to get connections that helped me move away from my mom. Living on my own then, I am free to pursue music once more. I find myself mimicking instrument solos with my lips for fun again. I'm that happy child again along with being a fully functioning adult. It is very possible to look back at one's past and see a stranger, but it's also possible to look back at someone you knew you were then, and know you are that person now.
This is totally possible, i used to have a Psychologist Friend and he always recommended that i look back at my childhood and see what i used to mess around with the most, because whatever that is, its very likely that thats what your passion could be now.
The first philosophy book I had for a class, back in 1991 was called, "Wisdom Without Answers", by Kolak and Martin. To this day, I give that book credit for starting me on my philosophical and spiritual journey. It's about 80 pages long. It's well worth it, if you can find a copy. It discusses many of the same concepts as this video.
Read "Prem ras siddhant" book English version
@@itdepends8103 thanks for the recommendation. I'll check it out.
@@danielreuben1058 pls let me know, when you read it! I wanna hear from you, how much you liked that book
We are what we re doing and think,like writing our character down,as time goes we erase,rewrite,write,we are a character who can change all the time
Who percieves the change while occurring? The change itself is being witnessed by one
You make me cry involuntarily in the best way that's possible.
I've heard this argument parroted frequently by philosophy, yet it holds little in truth with what we really see. This is not merely a supposition, many of the assertions are indeed testable hypothesise. For example, the assertion about the removal of limbs can be tested in amputees and to a lesser extent quadra/paraplegic. Both cohorts report feelings of being less themselves with the loss of a limb. Here the phenomenon of phantom limb syndrome gives us a clue into how much self is placed in our bodies. Another cohort equally worthy of consideration in such a hypothesis are organ transplantees. Here individuals post transplant regularly report feelings of living with someONE else. To the argument of atomic change, this is hardly isolated to humanity. It is equally present in all things living, dead and inanimate across the entirety of the universe. This includes your house, car and the device you're reading this comment on now. Does precession make them no longer yours after a period of time? Moreover if we want to talk in those terms, we leave tiny pieces of ourselves everywhere we go. Similarly we incorporate small parts of everything we ingest. By your argument vegans are better described as plants and unbeknownst to you your cat is really a fish in disguise. That's not even getting into the realities of quarks and electromagnetism. The argument appears illogical. An argument based on cellular regeneration is even less so as cells do not pop into existence from nothing. They are born through division. Cells indeed die, but not before recreating themselves. If I make two identical clones of you, which one is you and how can it be distinguished? Now as a thought experiment imagine that instead of me creating clones of you, before you died as a last act you organically self replicated a younger adult version of yourself before discarding the remaining lifeless husk. Which would be you? Could they be distinguished in any meaningful way? That is how cells do. Ultimately the this entire argument from philosophy can be surmised as an attempt to point to a single indivisible you. But the argument never considers the possibility that self is divisible without degradation. Consider, if we're in a plane crash stranded somewhere remote awaiting rescue. During it's course your friend dies. If I cut off their leg and offer it to you as food would you not shy away as result of your identification of the limb as being a part of your friend? Or to put it in a perhaps less vulgar way, the fresh broccoli you buy in the store has been separated from the plant. Is it still broccoli? How about if I remove the stem, are we still having broccoli for dinner or something else? It would seem to me that we are a transitory sum of our parts, with no part more we than any other. So too with division the parts remain equally us. So to the question "who am I", one might say I am change.
Interesting point of view. Thanks for sharing
This was insane to read, especially while on mushrooms, after experiencing emotional detachment. Thank you for your words.
Damn, thanks for sharing your POV. Fascinating isn’t it?
It's funny, i came to the same conclusion as you, but on the matter of psychological rather than physical nature. It's true though, the only constant is change.
@@shobhithegr8 Change occurs relative to experienced past, there is no necessity for something to be static in us. Colour is a whole different experience that I'm not going to get into here, but your use of it in analogy to describe the need for relative reference is inaccurate of how colour is experienced. No two people experience colour identically. To the universe, if we step on the ground do we experience that sensation from perspective of the ground? If an atom in another galaxy bonds with another do we know about it? I would posit that we are distinct from the universe. As much as the idea of being connected to everything might be pleasing to some, it does not seem to be the case in the literal sense beyond atomic procession.
very interesting video tho i do wanna comment that everyone underestimates the affect the body has in our sense of self. to use the video's example, if you lost all four limbs, you'd still be yourself, of course, but you'd definitely feel a big mental dissonance in your sense of self until you "get used to it" (and many people never get completely used to it) because of the drastic change in the perception you have of yourself. thats also why many people develop dysphoria when they start going through puberty and other changes. this doesn't change the meaning of the video but it is misconception people often have about themselves. the cartesian dualism of body and mind doesn't exist as a clear-cut separation as society has defined it
*This is a Compliment* Your Voice. It's so powerful that i am unable to listen and understand the whole video in one go . like it's deep(have a mystery)... tooo deep for me sink and bear all of that pressure. .. And.. like.... again I need to go up(To pause the video) to get air and dive back down(Rewatch the video again) .
A great video, as always. That said, I think it's bold to claim that human beings are the only ones with a sense of self.
I feel that our "soul" or "self" is separate from our body. When I had brain surgery, I had to learn to walk and do basic things. It felt like an infant stuck inside a grown man's body. And mentally I knew what I wanted to do, but my body wasn't responding. So it felt like 2 separate people for awhile. So visually we do change in time, but mentally not so much in my opinion.
You obviously don't understand basic neurology.
@@lunantix ok 🤗
Metaphysically speaking it can be like this. But if we consider neurology it just means that any of the parts of your brain that make you feel being yourself were injured
@@Diego-Designs you do know there's a scientifically proven reason why that phenomenon you've said happens right?
@@lunantix I'm all ears.
In the case of people with Alzheimer's don't they become who we think they are. To an extent aren't we all who everyone thinks we are if not in the direct ownership of a societal persona, then in the way that after we're gone nothing that anybody doesn't know about us is forgotten and irrelevant. I think the second part is more shaky because we develop hobbies and interests sometimes independent of any outside influence altogether, but it's interesting.
Another great vid. Pursuit of Wonder consistently posting quality content.
“Are they nobody? Perhaps so are you”. I haven’t heard more truthful words in a while.
The urge to just comment cause noone has commented
But was it YOU?
I’m almost the same as 15 years ago. The same person because I was already doing the most valid logical thing then too. There is not “personal logic”. You are correct or incorrect. Be correct. Always. This will be the best version of you.
That was oddly beautiful. Thank you for it.
I've been asking this question for long time. "Who am I?" The most honest answer I've arrived at is... I don't know... and that's okay.
You are awareness. That is the only thing that never changes so in absolute terms that is the only obvious answer.
@@andybrown3016 you can change your consciousness by taking psychedelics certainly and saying that iam consciousness is so vague
@@breeze8075 yes consciousness can be changed with psychedelics but awareness is always the same. In consciousness there is always subject/object duality but in awareness there is just the silent observer completely unaffected by experience.
@@andybrown3016 awareness is consciousness and without experience awareness is nothing
@@breeze8075 no it’s not
It took me a long time to understand the concept of "self" and of consciousness being the strange thing that it is. My feeling before was 'I am my brain', and I didn't understand why that was such a seemingly difficult or deep concept. Once the entire picture of consciousness finally registered in my brain, it became more and more profound an idea, or illusion. One of the things I did to better understand it all was to use the Ship of Theseus allegory and applied it to myself, then finally to my own brain. How many boards can you replace on Theseus' Ship before it is no longer his ship? Even if the pieces are identical down to the wood grain...
I always found the ship of theseus thought experiment to be a poor model for consciousness or self. "Ship", externally, is an arbitrary designation by an outside observer. The "ship" is always the sum of the parts arranged in a way that's sea worthy. The name of the ship follows the majority of the parts that remain together. At no point does ship a differentiate itself from ship b, any more than dust blown from one mountain onto another identify as either mountain. External observers call "that" particular stack of dirt and rocks Mount Everest, it will forever be Mount Everest as long as humans call it that, regardless of which particular rocks are stacked on top of each other. Consciousness or self is different, it's an internal designation "I think therefore I am" the second the physical pieces are no longer capable of thinking (ie seaworthy) the self disappears forever. Or maybe the self is inhabiting the body and continues on, essentially a soul. The self is completly divorced from the physical, because even if every piece of the physical self remains in a non living state (such as a fatal stroke) the self is forever divorced from the body. We don't even truely consider a body to be a person on an external level. Self is essentially a collection of electrical impulse arranged in a very specific manor in the physical world. But that's not quite it either, because we cant just stimulate specific electrical impulses and generate a self propagating identity. I suppose we will if we ever truely develop ai, a consciousness built on computer logic and not chemical potential energy.
@@Typexviiib you claim that the "self" is completely divorced from the physical. Do you have evidence to support that claim and evidence of something non-physical?
@@redeyewarrior" or maybe.... because...." granted my sentence structure is shit, but I was merely suggesting the possibility of a non physical component. Self seems to be an electronic state at best, similar to a chunk of data held in ram. The second the power goes off the program is lost with no physical evidence left behind on the hardware. Likewise once sufficient parts of the neuron network turn off the self disappears forever, even if the body continues to live.
@@Typexviiib I don't know what non-physical is. Your evidence is then in the ram which is physical evidence because you know your data is in ram. If you turn the power back on your data is still there unless you lost data due to some error which your computer can't read, yes then you won't ever find it but that is not non-physical.
@@redeyewarrior no. Ram does not store data when the power turns off. It's entirely energy state dependent. As soon as you turn your computer off every bit is reset to a 0, because a 1 requires an active electrical charge to maintain. Its impossible to look at a ram module that's been turned off and see if any data was ever on it, let alone what that data was. This is why restarting a computer can correct a lot of random issues. It's like a message written out on a grid of light bulbs using a wall of switches. Once you turn all the switches off, nobody can tell what used to be written on the grid of light bulbs. Neither inspecting the switch, nor the bulbs will tell you what the message said, or even if there was a message.. There is no physical remnant of the message in the lightbulbs. Likewise with programs pulled up in ram, and seemingly with conciousness or self. Theres no way of inspecting neurons and determining anything about the consciousness they spawned, or even if one actually existed. Its not a technological limitation, it's a fundamental function of how they operate. They are switches that turn on and off based off reactions to electrical impulses. I believe you are thinking of solid state drives, hdds, nvme, or some other method of information storage. Ram isn't storage, and behaves differently. DNA is the closest biological anology to these forms of semi permanent information storage. DNA remains and can be read after the system creating it turns off (dies).
I needed this, Thank You, deeply.
Understood. A good reminder for me. Bad habits are hard to kick. I’ll remember. Thank you.
Cool, I was in the mood for a fresh existential crisis today!
Stop asking useless questions and crisis is OVER Make it so
They are still around! The existential crisis clowns.
you dont need to be depressed over questions like these
@@netosampaio8548 I'm an existential crisis clown myself. So what about it.
@@somethingyousaid5059 Enjoy it.
great advice for people with personality disorders- you have no ego, you hurt people around you, but you don`t have to care!
This was so well done. Fits in with Joe Dispenza's concept that we have to stop being "ourselves" in order to embrace moving into new ways of being.
this is just buddhism. Anatta & five skandhas.
We are the sum of our experiences. Even things we no longer recall have an impact on who we are in this moment. We are a single point in time, one that has never happened before and never will again. The "me" who finished this video isn't the same "me" who started it.
Beautiful! Know thyself - one great Greek philosopher said. You are not the body, not the mind, but the soul - these are the most difficult things for a human to comprehend.
Waffle-the self of course can be constant and never changing in values and perception , I agree whilst we move into the next moment we can evolve, that is become better in what we do, but not necessarily losing our previous interests , values or personality traits. It's a culmination of everything including responsive stimuli to outside information as you say, but it is your physical, your mental, your mannerisms, your friends , your perception and goals . It's the whole package
2:03 I lived in the same house for 24 years. It had Small farm behind my house that raised horses, cows, goats. It was Quite, Pastoral, *Peaceful* . An Oasis from the city my 25th year they sold the farm. Now my unmoved home is behind an Industrial Warehouse with 18-wheelers traversing the lot throughout the workday.
What a thoughtful & provoking video thank you