Who Are You? The Pursuit of Self-Knowledge

We’re all pretty clueless about ourselves sometimes. But can brain scans and self-reflection bring our “core” selves to the surface?

Image: Freepik

The pursuit of self-knowledge is held in high regard in our culture. We are encouraged to figure out who we really are — what makes us tick, and why — in order to live a fully-formed life: A career which suits our skills set, a relationship with a carefully selected partner which might actually stand the test of time, all of life’s important decisions made from a well-developed and fully-functioning sense of self-awareness.

It is, we are told, our path to the good life. “Know thyself” — the famous Socratic instruction — is the hard-won knowledge which unlocks the world, and our place in it.

But is it actually possible? The brain is the least well-understood organ in the human body. Many of its workings remain a baffling scientific mystery, which is one of the reasons why brain-related conditions (and injuries) are some of the hardest to treat.

Then there’s the fact that we are physically always in a state of flux. Our cells replace themselves every seven years or so. And we evolve: What we thought seven years ago isn’t necessarily what we think now. Our bodies change, and so do…