What do we know about ourselves?
Well, now someone will wonder: "what's the question is about?"
You see, all we basically know about ourselves is that we exist. And this fact is so unquestionable for everyone as seems to be the ultimate truth. Because we pronounce it daily, multiple times:
We repeated it for thousands and thousands times during our lifetimes. So many times, that we don't even question that anymore. There's just "I" and "they" and sometimes some phantom "we" appear.
I am
We all know, who we are, because we gave so many definitions to our "I". It's so easy to say, what is "I" and what "I" am not for sure. But is it so?
But we tend to give tags to everything; this is good, this is defenitely bad, this is just wrong, this is red, that's oval, that thing is cyan and so on. And the main tag is "my" offcourse =)
We can just divide the whole world into two parts in seconds - this part is tagged "my" and the other part - we don't really care about - "their".
Where is "I" located then?
It should be somewhere inside us, right? So, it's our body. What a stupid question I'm asking =)
But is it? Where exactly in our body? If we loose leg, do we have less of "I" left now? It seems that the answer is NO.
Maybe if we loose hand, something will change? Both hands? One leg, one hand? All legs and hands? Still the answer is NO?
There should be something defying us as us, inside of us. Now the circle is a bit more narrow.
Brain is the organ that produce thinking! We've found it! Or is it?
Brain is where our "I" lives?
Ok, what we know is that our brain has some neurons (ok, LOTS of neurons) that tend to produce some electricity, heat and thoughts. Brain also has the wide network of connections with all the body and getting all the feedback, collected by all body sensors. Like the computer on some modern airplane. Let's compare our precious "I" with something cool!
Let's say, I am like Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk stealth attack aircraft. This one:
I'm same stealthy and scary, when controlled by brain that allows me to be all that. I'm almost perfect in air. But total piece of rubbish without all my sensors. Can I decide where to go and make decisions in some uncommon situations I've never been in before? in outer space, let's say or deep under sea surface? Where the program in my brain that supports my life in daily surroundings, will be useless because it has no information about new environment?
Basically, the question is,
Can my brain really have ideas?
Let's start from defying "idea" - some new decision in new situation, based on previous experience? What do you think?
So, our brain takes pieces of situations from the past and just put them in new order because it seems to be new rational way of solving something. Brain is like computer with some preinstalled conditions, just trying to imply some preinstalled instruments in a different way. It's limited by instruments it has and conditions it defies. It doesn't seem to be my awesome and unique "I".
Consciousness
Oh yeah! Now we talk!
This word contain loads of unproven things in it. We cannot explain more than half of them. Soul, mind and so on.
But at least we all know that consciousness is in our brain, so it must be our "I"!
And scientists say that if to stimulate our brain with electrodes, they can even make it produce emotions! So yeah, our consciousness lives there and work together with brain and trough it, controlls everything we can! Nice, but is it our "I"? Our "I" is very independent and can make decisions solely by itself, except when we eat broccoli, let's say =)
Why broccoli?
Broccoli gets digested by our body and through vitamins and other microelements influence our brain, what leads to changes in our mood and the way our consciousness. When we feel sad, we are not really up to going somewhere to have fun as easy as when we're in the good mood, right? So, our stomach suddenly plays extremely important role in decisions through the food it digests =)) So does our blood pressure, influenced by weather. Same story with our body temperature that we can barely try to control for very limited time =)
Summing up
The only logical explanation that "I" do exist - I simply am =) That's all we know