Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

‘Know thyself’ is not just silly advice: it’s actively dangerous

#1
C C Offline
https://aeon.co/ideas/know-thyself-is-no...-dangerous

EXCERPT: [...] There is, however, a deep problem with this mental set-up: people change. There are tumultuous periods when we change drastically – in times of romantic love, say, or divorce, or having children. Often we are aware of these changes. After you’ve had kids, you probably notice that you’ve suddenly become a morning person.

But most changes happen gradually and under the radar. A few mechanisms of these changes are well understood, such as the ‘mere exposure effect’: the more you are exposed to something, the more you tend to like it. Another, more troubling one, is that the more your desire for something is frustrated, the more you tend to dislike it. These changes happen gradually, often without us noticing anything.

The problem is this: if we change while our self-image remains the same, then there will be a deep abyss between who we are and who we think we are. And this leads to conflict.

To make things worse, we are exceptionally good at dismissing even the possibility that we might change. Psychologists have given this phenomenon a fancy name...

MORE: https://aeon.co/ideas/know-thyself-is-no...-dangerous
Reply
#2
Syne Offline
"Know thyself" is not an admonition to know "everything about yourself". It is counseling awareness of ones own weaknesses, biases, etc..

"Socrates
The ridiculous is in its main aspect a kind of vice which gives its name to a condition; and it is that part of vice in general which involves the opposite of the condition mentioned in the inscription at Delphi.

Protarchus
You mean “Know thyself,” Socrates?"
- Plato's Philebus dialogue

Vice is a failure to know your own weakness, and Socrates seems to be making the case of the ridiculous nature of the Dunning-Kruger effect...where the least capable are often the most confident...for failure to know their own shortcomings.
Reply
#3
Leigha Offline
I've always taken it to mean that we can't really improve upon ourselves, if we don't know ourselves. And we shouldn't attempt to judge others, if we ourselves need self improvement.
Reply
#4
Syne Offline
There is no knowing yourself without judgment. Without judgment, we can neither determine our own weaknesses nor those of others. You cannot have the discernment of one without the other. Avoidance in judging others only leads to the avoidance of judging ourselves. It's kind of a mutually agreed upon avoidance...which the OP article seems to be promoting.
Reply
Reply
#6
Leigha Offline
(Oct 21, 2017 04:54 AM)Syne Wrote: There is no knowing yourself without judgment. Without judgment, we can neither determine our own weaknesses nor those of others. You cannot have the discernment of one without the other. Avoidance in judging others only leads to the avoidance of judging ourselves. It's kind of a mutually agreed upon avoidance...which the OP article seems to be promoting.

If you base your whole existence on comparing yourself to others, you might end up never knowing who you really are.
Reply
#7
Syne Offline
(Oct 21, 2017 08:46 PM)Leigha Wrote:
(Oct 21, 2017 04:54 AM)Syne Wrote: There is no knowing yourself without judgment. Without judgment, we can neither determine our own weaknesses nor those of others. You cannot have the discernment of one without the other. Avoidance in judging others only leads to the avoidance of judging ourselves. It's kind of a mutually agreed upon avoidance...which the OP article seems to be promoting.

If you base your whole existence on comparing yourself to others, you might end up never knowing who you really are.

It's not about comparison...it's basic psychology. People naturally hold others to the same standards they hold themselves. So it follows that an avoidance of judging others reflects such an avoidance for oneself.

But why do you feel that judgment would engulf a person's "whole existence"? Is that something that you fear you might obsess over to that extent, if so indulged?
Reply


Possibly Related Threads…
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  No one can decide if grapefruit is dangerous (diet fashions) C C 2 187 Jan 3, 2023 11:39 PM
Last Post: Yazata



Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)