How to Remember Pre Self Consciousness
Although it is virtually impossible for most people to really grasp pre self consciousness, having become self conscious, it is possible to remember the time when you were not aware of your self. Since this is probably the state that our religious or mental models seek to reproduce (despite failure in a Google search of ''pre self consciousness''~the only return {before this article was published} was for ''pre'' reflective ''self consciousness''), it becomes pertinent in one's walk to examine this concept from another angle; that of ''remembering when'', or at least the doorway from there, rather than ''aspiring to.''
''Pre reflective self consciousness'' provides an interesting analog in helping to understand your state of mind at the time, so we'll look at a brief of this concept:
"One can get a bearing on the notion of pre-reflective self-consciousness by contrasting it with reflective self-consciousness. If you ask me to give you a description of the pain I feel in my right foot, or of what I was just thinking about, I would reflect on it and thereby take up a certain perspective that was one order removed from the pain or the thought. Thus, reflective self-consciousness is at least a higher-order cognition. It may be the basis for a report on one's experience, although not all reports involve a significant amount of reflection.
In contrast, pre-reflective self-consciousness is pre-reflective in the sense that (1) it is an awareness we have before we do any reflecting on our experience; (2) it is an implicit and first-order awareness rather than an explicit or higher-order form of self-consciousness. Indeed, an explicit reflective self-consciousness is possible only because there is a pre-reflective self-awareness that is an on-going and more primary self-consciousness. Although phenomenologists do not always agree on important questions about method, focus, or even whether there is an ego or self, they are in close to unanimous agreement about the idea that the experiential dimension always involves such an implicit pre-reflective self-awareness.[1] In line with Edmund Husserl (1959, 189, 412), who maintains that consciousness always involves a self-appearance (Für-sich-selbst-erscheinens), and in agreement with Michel Henry (1963, 1965), who notes that experience is always self-manifesting, and with Maurice Merleau-Ponty who states that consciousness is always given to itself and that the word ‘consciousness’ has no meaning independently of this self-givenness (Merleau-Ponty 1945, 488), Jean-Paul Sartre writes that pre-reflective self-consciousness is not simply a quality added to the experience, an accessory; rather, it constitutes the very mode of being of the experience...” (''Sources'')<BR>Or in other words you, completely in the moment, before mental processing.<BR><BR>We’ll take a look at how to remember when you came to self awareness, but unfortunately--even though this experience alone will be quite a jolt--all you will be left with, most likely anyway, is a memory of that moment; although intriguing echoes of pre self consciousness will reverberate. And who knows? Maybe ''you'' will be the one who writes the article about further regression here, since the Indians apparently are not.
== Steps ==
# Separate out the "hype." While we are still exploring whether it is absolutely necessary or not, the Indians first drink a "tea of remembering" in this ceremony. An internet search of this phrase yields no pertinent results--the tea produces a mild euphoric effect--and it is debatable whether or not the tea is strictly required, as our experience of remembering the moment when we left pre self consciousness did not actually occur until a couple of days after the ceremony. It may suffice to recognize that you are doing an "important thing," mentally, which may reinforce your ability to recollect by placing the ceremony at the back of your mind, metaphorically.<BR><BR>It is interesting to note that the Indian was not fazed by our lack of success that evening, and seemed suspiciously nonchalant (thus prompting us to mentally pick at it?) after the ceremony.
# Know that repeated attempts will eventually be successful. Despite people's declarations that they cannot remember before a certain age, everything you have ever done--including during pre consciousness--created a memory which can be retrieved, except in rare cases of some physical brain abnormality, or "blocking" trauma.
# Find somewhere relaxed, and secluded. In the absence of the tea of remembering, something that might make you mildly euphoric could be beneficial; anything that causes a light endorphin release could help. Don't overdo the euphoria, as that will make it difficult to concentrate. It was after a vertical hike (endorphin release), 2 or 3 days post-ceremony, that our memories returned. Recalling, or discussing your early childhood with a co-opt, with the specified view of reaching your earliest memory will aid your mind in bringing the memory up.
# Conduct a ceremony. The chief aim of a ceremonial setting is most likely to imprint mentally, as this is a proven method of reinforcement. There is no obstacle to your creating this atmosphere yourself, and leading someone else in this manner is definitely recommended. It may be defined as "hype," but it is productive in this context. The nuts and bolts of this is really about getting a subject to relax and be open to remembering, and reminiscing about their early childhood as you present generalizations about it, triggering early memories; and this can also be done solo.
# Watch little kids. Post-ceremony, observing smaller children's interactions, even on tv, may trigger the memory.
== Sources and Citations ==
*Phenomenological Approaches to Self-Consciousness (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Although it is virtually impossible for most people to really grasp pre self consciousness, having become self conscious, it is possible to remember the time when you were not aware of your self. Since this is probably the state that our religious or mental models seek to reproduce (despite failure in a Google search of ''pre self consciousness''~the only return {before this article was published} was for ''pre'' reflective ''self consciousness''), it becomes pertinent in one's walk to examine this concept from another angle; that of ''remembering when'', or at least the doorway from there, rather than ''aspiring to.''
''Pre reflective self consciousness'' provides an interesting analog in helping to understand your state of mind at the time, so we'll look at a brief of this concept:
"One can get a bearing on the notion of pre-reflective self-consciousness by contrasting it with reflective self-consciousness. If you ask me to give you a description of the pain I feel in my right foot, or of what I was just thinking about, I would reflect on it and thereby take up a certain perspective that was one order removed from the pain or the thought. Thus, reflective self-consciousness is at least a higher-order cognition. It may be the basis for a report on one's experience, although not all reports involve a significant amount of reflection.
In contrast, pre-reflective self-consciousness is pre-reflective in the sense that (1) it is an awareness we have before we do any reflecting on our experience; (2) it is an implicit and first-order awareness rather than an explicit or higher-order form of self-consciousness. Indeed, an explicit reflective self-consciousness is possible only because there is a pre-reflective self-awareness that is an on-going and more primary self-consciousness. Although phenomenologists do not always agree on important questions about method, focus, or even whether there is an ego or self, they are in close to unanimous agreement about the idea that the experiential dimension always involves such an implicit pre-reflective self-awareness.[1] In line with Edmund Husserl (1959, 189, 412), who maintains that consciousness always involves a self-appearance (Für-sich-selbst-erscheinens), and in agreement with Michel Henry (1963, 1965), who notes that experience is always self-manifesting, and with Maurice Merleau-Ponty who states that consciousness is always given to itself and that the word ‘consciousness’ has no meaning independently of this self-givenness (Merleau-Ponty 1945, 488), Jean-Paul Sartre writes that pre-reflective self-consciousness is not simply a quality added to the experience, an accessory; rather, it constitutes the very mode of being of the experience...” (''Sources'')<BR>Or in other words you, completely in the moment, before mental processing.<BR><BR>We’ll take a look at how to remember when you came to self awareness, but unfortunately--even though this experience alone will be quite a jolt--all you will be left with, most likely anyway, is a memory of that moment; although intriguing echoes of pre self consciousness will reverberate. And who knows? Maybe ''you'' will be the one who writes the article about further regression here, since the Indians apparently are not.
== Steps ==
# Separate out the "hype." While we are still exploring whether it is absolutely necessary or not, the Indians first drink a "tea of remembering" in this ceremony. An internet search of this phrase yields no pertinent results--the tea produces a mild euphoric effect--and it is debatable whether or not the tea is strictly required, as our experience of remembering the moment when we left pre self consciousness did not actually occur until a couple of days after the ceremony. It may suffice to recognize that you are doing an "important thing," mentally, which may reinforce your ability to recollect by placing the ceremony at the back of your mind, metaphorically.<BR><BR>It is interesting to note that the Indian was not fazed by our lack of success that evening, and seemed suspiciously nonchalant (thus prompting us to mentally pick at it?) after the ceremony.
# Know that repeated attempts will eventually be successful. Despite people's declarations that they cannot remember before a certain age, everything you have ever done--including during pre consciousness--created a memory which can be retrieved, except in rare cases of some physical brain abnormality, or "blocking" trauma.
# Find somewhere relaxed, and secluded. In the absence of the tea of remembering, something that might make you mildly euphoric could be beneficial; anything that causes a light endorphin release could help. Don't overdo the euphoria, as that will make it difficult to concentrate. It was after a vertical hike (endorphin release), 2 or 3 days post-ceremony, that our memories returned. Recalling, or discussing your early childhood with a co-opt, with the specified view of reaching your earliest memory will aid your mind in bringing the memory up.
# Conduct a ceremony. The chief aim of a ceremonial setting is most likely to imprint mentally, as this is a proven method of reinforcement. There is no obstacle to your creating this atmosphere yourself, and leading someone else in this manner is definitely recommended. It may be defined as "hype," but it is productive in this context. The nuts and bolts of this is really about getting a subject to relax and be open to remembering, and reminiscing about their early childhood as you present generalizations about it, triggering early memories; and this can also be done solo.
# Watch little kids. Post-ceremony, observing smaller children's interactions, even on tv, may trigger the memory.
== Sources and Citations ==
*Phenomenological Approaches to Self-Consciousness (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
