I Am a Metaphor
The Metaphorical Nature of Consciousness
(A Look at the Creation and Possible Re-Creation
of Consciousness)
The idea that consciousness is a metaphorical creation is
not so strange as it might seem at first. Consider for a moment
what happens if you tell yourself "I am James Bond."
If you adopt this metaphor of yourself as James Bond, and play
along with it for a moment, you'll notice that your consciousness
immediately changes to some extent. You think like Bond would
think (or at least how you imagine he would think), and perhaps
talk and answer questions like he would.
This has been used as a tool for creative problem solving.
For example, if you imagine you are Donald Trump you may have
ideas for real estate investing which you never would have had
by "yourself," or when in your "normal" consciousness.
But beyond being an interesting and useful mental exercise, this
also raises the question of whether our normal conscious identity
is anything more than a similar invention.
Some Speculation on Identity and Consciousness
Imagine for a moment if you had no name, no word "I"
or "me" and no other convenient way to refer to yourself.
That would certainly change your experience of life, wouldn't
it? If you still had names for other people, you could think
about them, but what about yourself? You could think FROM yourself,
as all higher animals do, but only once you have a name and a
concept of "me" can you think ABOUT yourself.
Though you exist as an individual, the "self" which
you "see" in your thoughts is really just a metaphorical
creation. Whether we are aware of it or not (sometimes we are),
we are always creating a "story" about our lives that
metaphorically represents the reality. You project yourself into
an imagined future, and you "remember" who you are
by reference to "memories" that are perhaps just more
stories. In fact, research is showing more and more that "memories"
are largely inventions rather than a recording of actual events.
A personal name and other concepts such as "I" and
"me" are simple labels that pull together this collection
of memories, ideas and metaphors. The "world" in our
heads, in which we "see" ourselves "moving about,"
is of course not reality. It's just the best metaphor we have
for understanding reality and our "place" in it.
Is this theory of consciousness and identity good news or
bad news? Both. Remember the exercise above? If Bob thinks as
though he is Ghandi or Rambo, he gets a certain outcome. But
if he thinks as if he is himself - as he normally would do -
he get's a different outcome, based on the "Bob" he
has created in his mind. This self that he creates may have all
sorts of limitations built into it.
This explains how two people with the same skills, intelligence,
knowledge, and situation can have such radically different results.
They are acting from the perspective of very different metaphorical
identities. One may have a "self" that is capable of
almost anything while the other has unfortunately created a more
limited "self." Not too long ago, the term "self
image" was coined to explain these differences.
Have you ever paid attention to successful people (with success
in whatever area of life)? If so, you probably have noticed the
variety of skills and knowledge and the differences in the levels
of these. A blunt example: you have seen stupid people succeed
in business.
Clearly there is something other than ability and circumstance
that greatly contributes to success. This would be even clearer
if you could see up close how absolutely mediocre in skills and
intelligence some "great" figures of history are. How
can this be? One place to start looking for answers to this mystery
is with the particular consciousness and identity each person
creates for him or herself.
This also suggests a question: If identity and consciousness
are metaphorical inventions, can we reinvent them? Certainly
those with multiple-personality disorder have done so. But can
we do so consciously and with a more productive outcome? Now,
that is a question worth exploring further.
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