Saturday, February 10, 2007

what is a "person"?

Many times I wonder if somethings I think about just occur to me or they come to other people too ("thoughts arrive like butterflies", as Vedder says). For example the following happened to me a few times (it's true, I'm not making it up): I'm staring at myself in the mirror and I see a face. And the realization that I'm looking at myself is suddenly washed away. Like my mind refuses to recognize myself and I'm blank. I think I've found the right words to describe it now. It's like the mind and body are two completely different things and the brain refuses to acknowledge that it belongs to this body. It thinks like an independent entity. The worst is yet to come though. I stare wondering who and what this is that I am looking at. The thing that I'm looking at is a stranger to me. Well, to my mind atleast. It's a feeling that I never would experience consciously, meaning if I tried to.
What I'm trying to say here is nothing philosophical really. It's just a realization that body does just the mechanical work and the brain is where "you" are. That the brain would bring you your identity and the body could look like an egg for all it cares. How peculiar though, that we identify everybody by the way they look. Don't you think?

11 comments:

Javatini said...

In layman terms, it is called 'absent-mindedness' or some close relative of it ;)

I'm glad to see rising your frequency of posts..way to go!

Sukhi said...

Absent-mindedness doesn't quite fit the bill here. Especially considering you're becoming more aware of something. I think at some point of time, I'd like to do some research on how brain works. The frequency of posting is directly proportional to the neural bursts from memories and inspiration :).

Badri said...

what would be called an 'out of body experience', i believe. do we really identify people (in our heads) by the way they look? i don't think so. i think we identify them by our perception of their personality.

Badri said...

by the way, this is the kind of stuff that I think people *should* write on blogs and it's very much worth reading. don't know why you said I wouldn't like it.

Ankur Jain said...

I believe we identify people more by the "personality mismatch." , you meet someone u can identify with "in terms of thoughts" ..u like him regardless of how he/she looks..but yes I think physical appearance does play a role in making the first impressions (that could be entirely wrong)....
what amazes me is "what makes a person stand in front of a mirror and question his personality/life?" Of course its not smth u do evey day...but then u wake up with a different frame of mind each morning!!

Sukhi said...

the post seems to convey a more philosophical message than scientific, which is actually not what I intended it to be.

Ankur Jain said...

I guess what we are trying to find is the science behind the philosophy !!

Unknown said...

when i stopped wearing a turban i went through the same thing for a week, where i had to tell myself thats its me in the mirror :) on a serious note, i think its more like being totally immersed in the moment and not trying to 'understand' it. on seconds thoughts, i am not making sense. i need a drink!

mindless banter said...

Inquisitive minds would like to know what kinda time you spend staring at yourself in the mirror everyday?

BlackThorn said...

hey this happens to a lot of ppl. actually many ppl practise hypnotism using the method u hav just stated! herez the link[ refer to ' Tuning In' portion of it] -> www.seishindo.org/articles/self_hypnosis_cb.html

Day Dreamer said...

Hey this happens to me sometimes too specially when i am alone. But this doesnt happen while looking at the mirror. Sometimes when i am thinking hard to take a difficult decision then my mind thinks in that direction that who i am? what is my identity? I feel as if my mind have come out of the body and examining the body as a mechanical thing. It also leads me sometimes to day dreaming.