joe gould article

In this recent post, I am happy to share my thoughts about the “self-awareness” movement. The following quote is especially interesting because I believe it is the first time I ever saw the word “self-awareness” used in a philosophical or scientific way. Basically, the idea is that our thoughts are not separate from the way we feel. What I mean by that is that our thoughts and feelings don’t exist separate from one another.

I first heard this notion from a friend of mine who is a professor of philosophy at a university. He said that as soon as the word “self” is mentioned, people lose their ability to think coherently. I feel this is true.

This is a good example of how we can lose our ability to think coherently. For example, if I say to someone, “You don’t think I feel any pain,” they may or may not feel pain. However, I may or may not be able to accurately describe the feeling of pain.

My friend says that this is also true of someone who says, “I feel pain every day. I’m a professional golfer. I can hit a ball into the hole a hundred feet, but I can’t feel the little twinges of pain in my knees or the ache in my arm.