08-31-2023, 04:21 PM
(08-31-2023, 02:23 PM)Duchess Wrote: I don't agree with that. Most people know themself. Good or bad.
People are not "good or bad", they are good and bad -- and that holds true even for monsters like Stalin and Mao.
Your statement does not reflect the complexity of human beings. You could spend an entire lifetime endeavoring to know yourself and you would not have perfect self-knowledge.
Human perception is inherently imperfect, and by extension, so too is our capacity for "knowing". This is why I encourage people to acquire knowledge of psychology, as it gives insight into how our minds function.
Eyes do not "see". All they do is relay optic data to the mind, which assembles it into images in accordance with our experiences, emotions, beliefs, preconceptions, etc.
If I say that I know myself, it's because I want to see myself in a favorable light -- and in so doing I preclude the possibility of gaining self-knowledge, because I'm convinced that I already have it.