The process of “knowing oneself” is the full acknowledgement and realization of one’s mortality.
What do you mean?
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The process of “knowing oneself” is the full acknowledgement and realization of one’s mortality.
Zazzo's Well 
Isn’t one of the many things we are kept from knowing about ourselves knowing there is or is not an after-life for us? It seems it is not just mortality or eternity that we can only speculate on, it is tomorrow or even our next breath. Doesn’t that mean there is nothing to acknowledge or realize, only rationally assessing the claims made around us and making the best decisions we can with what we know (and don’t know) ?
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I think that the gravity of escapism is at play here. Even if something is absolutely present and real in a human’s life, he/she may do their best not to acknowledge it. If people understand themselves to certain degrees, some more and some less. How do we distinguish between the two? This is where the process of escapism comes into play, it is the avoidance of acknowledgment and therefore realization, that comes along with not accepting the reality of death. And not only death of life, death of time, death of opportunity and potential, and death of a many other things due to the overarching experience of mortality.
What you say is very stoic in my estimation, in the sense that every moment is equal and therefore deserving of equal consideration. I don’t believe this to be true. The possibilities in life dwindle with every passing day. Also, there is the possibility that everything will end this very moment. The realization of mortality runs very deep in the human psyche. If every moment is equal, then why would we ever take a path that promises more pain and suffering than another?
Also, I wonder what you mean by “rationally assessing”.
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I agree with you, escapism abounds. This is especially true where there is pain or the promise of pleasure. It’s the easy way out, or “the road less traveled”. The reality of the end of life on earth is one that all know, or acknowledge, but not when, how, why, or where. These are pretty big unanswered questions, so it would seem a logical reaction to waste no time to understand what is known or knowable to best address, and make peace with, this reality.
The good news is that most people of the world don’t believe life ends with life on earth. I think the polls show that more people believe life continues beyond life on earth than do not – especially in Asia. If it is not true it is still a source of hope for something better (not hard to imagine), and if it is true it really makes sense of an ofter non-sensicle world.
I don’t understand the case for every moment being equal. The sheer nomber of them alone is not equal. Some have only a few weeks and never see daylight, others more than a hundred years with all kinds of experiences.
I like the dictionary definitions of “rational” and “assess”. An example of an irrational assessment is concluding what is when it is not. Humans have choices way beyond the rest of the animal kingdom. A cat can only act like and behave like a cat. I, on the other hand can act like (chase birds) and behave like (meow), and even declare myself to be, a cat. I can get others to declare ‘the science’ declares I’m a cat, and to validate my irrational assessment that I’m a cat.
Why would someone choose the path of pain? Love. Love is not provable, has many definitions, cannot be tested in the lab, does not have a measurable scale, is not clear to all that it exists, and is not addressed by science (except when it is equated with physical sex) . It involves higher levels of thinking and theory, and it involves effort. It can ha e more to do with contentment, happiness and living a fulfilled life than anything else IF it is understood is certain ways. Guys that claim to “love” different girls (or whatever) nightly are some of the empties souls on earth. That suggests they may have an irrational understanding of love. Others are full of purpose, hope, meaning, and joy even thought it leads them to be willing to surrender their lives for another. That suggests they are getting something great out of their understanding of love. As an added bonus, they might even be fully reconciled with the end of life on earth no matter when that might be.
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I appreciate your perspective Rob. It seems to me that the reality of life after death is what leads you to sacrifice, namely, for love. I hope you see that I am saying something similar with my post. The reality of morality does not mean that there is no life after death. In fact, it may even imply it for some. In my case I interpret it to be so. The end of life is a process of conclusion, meaning that the occurrences of this world add up to something. If one takes the time to accept their mortality, they may find that there are things worth giving themselves to. This may be interpreted as sacrifice, suffering, effort, courage, compassion, ect. I am attempting to create a relationship between “oneself” and “mortality”, aka, “my actions” and their “consequences”. This of course can be interpreted in a number of ways.
In my posts, I don’t often say explicitly what I believe. Instead, I am attempting to incur thought and curiosity in the reader. What the reader ends up concluding is up to them; there is nothing I am attempting to force other than the process of questioning beliefs and understandings. The post above is this way. I am tempting the reader into looking deeper and more closely at his/her understanding of morality.
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