Reflecting on philosophy is a challenge for those who aren’t familiar with the concept (at a high level). I’m still navigating putting my thoughts together without feeling judged by those who study philosophy relentlessly. Nietzsche didn’t care, so why should I? In Part I of my reflection I first dove into several questions that came to me as I read Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche (1886).

Here is a snippet of what I plan to focus on in Part II:

How do we understand ourselves? How do we understand each other? Is one more important than the other when seeking this knowledge and do we truly seek to understand knowledge or are we seeking to understand ourselves through learning?

How do we understand ourselves?

This is a very complicated question, as all are when it comes to seeking understanding. My interpretation will be much different for each individual reading this, and will be taken close to how it was intended, and taken completely out of context. That is okay. As long as it gets everyone thinking about what it means personally, then it is ideal inference.

Understanding begins in childhood. That’s not great news for many of us who may have had a difficult childhood that we are still trying to relate to adulthood. I’d like to point out that understanding our childhood is not the same as understanding being our childhood. By this I mean we can often get hooked on the idea that every detail of our childhood is what makes up the person we are today. Sure, many aspects do, but not to the point of obsession and blame.

There are relevant parts that we will hold on to (like a childhood bully or resenting not bonding with a parent) and there are parts that are locked away somewhere that only a hypnotist can bring out (like looking at a random toy at an unmemorable store or observing a car pass by during a walk home).

While both scenarios are completely different, they still contribute to our understanding of the world in some way. If the toy was large and scary then it could have caused nightmares and a fear of a certain color, for example. These small and large factors are based on personal experiences as we get older. What about the many people that we encounter on a daily basis whose experiences we are completely blind to?

How do we understand each other?

While not mentioned above, we understand others the same way we understand ourselves: communication. We communicate with ourselves every second of the day; physically, mentally, and emotionally. Think about how often you’re in your own head when alone or with others. This is contributing to understanding oneself, which in turn, is working towards understanding those around us.

The strongest method of communication is active listening: the act of being fully attentive when someone is speaking. When people talk about themselves they are revealing who they are without trying. It’s not just what they say but what they don’t say that is heard during verbal communication.

In addition, our own discomfort based on certain words, gestures, phrases, and tones contribute to how we understand ourselves and others.

Is one (understanding ourselves) more important than the other (understanding others)?

We’re designed to be social creatures, even introverts like me. Depression can hit hard when that connection is missing or lost. I’d say that both of these are interchangeable and their importance varies by person. We’ve spent more time with ourselves than any other person and naturally know ourselves in a way that no other person could, even the closest person to us wouldn’t.

Do we truly seek to understand knowledge?

What do we gain from seeking knowledge? What do we miss out on from avoiding knowledge or filtering what knowledge we allow within our minds?

This is where the difference takes place. Only we know what is our truth. There’s a certain image that we put on for others and it changes based on who we’re talking to. There are dark places of the mind that we simply can’t share with others. Perhaps this is how you really feel about a close relative or attraction to a spouse’s friend, whom you flirt with secretly when your partner isn’t looking.

The point is would seeking knowledge be selfish because the only goal is to learn even more about ourselves? Not if it is for the purpose of a greater cause…which is also to help us feel good about ourselves. But this negativity is what needs to be eliminated. It’s okay to do something for ourselves! It’s completely fine to seek knowledge with no use for it other than wanting to know! This leads to the last element.

Are we seeking to understand ourselves through learning?

As alluded to above, absolutely. The knowledge we’re seeking is based on what intrigues us, what interests us, who resonates with us, and so on. Think about your last Google search or the last book you read. How did you come across it? As children, we’re fed what to read, watch, and listen to. As adults, our confirmation bias kicks in. All learning is chosen learning. Even if there’s a debate, we decide which sources we want to use for verification. This all helps us to better understand ourselves.

I’ve used we, us, our very loosely. Remember, this is my first-time visit! I found myself straying away from the topic and the overall concept in which I was seeking my own understanding. That is part of my learning experience.

As I continue to research understanding where to go from here, where to look for understanding enlightenment, how to stay on the topic of understanding, and how to remain positive about understanding without going on tangents, my hope is that by the time I get to the final part of this series, others will have learned something about themselves and about me.

Follow me and subscribe below to see where this journey takes me…and, you.