Macion Grey
the Libertine
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2008
- Messages
- 1,374
To understand my convoluted musings, let’s look at the concept of Self for a moment:
-Our ‘sense of self’ is quite aptly named. It is indeed a sense, in the purest meaning of that word. A Chimera.
-Our identities (the people we imagine ourselves to be) are simply a narrative that we tell to ourselves (and indeed others when allowed) over the course of each day, week, and throughout our life.
Let’s take these two facets of Self, and give them a label. Imagine that there are two selves active at any given time within your head. The 'current self', and the 'remembering self'.
The current self is experiencing life in real-time, with a sensory memory of about three seconds that can echo on in the 30 seconds of your short term memory deciphering and sorting the plethora of sensory input that bombards us at every moment. With this we see that base pleasures like that slice of cake or a dram of scotch are fleeting, though potent nonetheless.
So by contrast, the remembering self is responsible for providing the current self with new memories with which to then fondly recall (and indeed embellish to our peers). That is the part of you that lets you sit back and reflect on what memories make you happy, and anticipate new experiences with the thick solvent of practiced memory.
For example, I put pepper on my eggs and enjoy the sensation. Before even an hour has past the memory is but a wispy strand in my mind; the experience numbed by the anaesthetic of repetition. But what I do recall when I get that first whiff of pepper as I shake it is my grandfather, who seemed to shake the stuff over his cereal if he could get away with it. That is my remembering self striding in and taking cue from my current self and bringing up a moment of reflection.
So far, we see that either sense of self on its own is powerful, but not fulfilling as a whole unless behaving symbiotically. Your memories are not going to spark at each separate occasion you have felt satiated, just as you will not be in the mood to reflect upon things if you are not contented. But I do believe I have found a vessel that brings these two mental demands together with surprising frequency:
The pipe.
You get the alluring pleasure of complete sensory gratification whilst forcing a calm and reflective outlook that sharpens memories, and sometimes even creates new ones. The current self and the remembering self are completely at peace with each other, something that is rare when it comes to the gratification of our more hedonistic impulses.
Perhaps that is why we stick to it?
-Our ‘sense of self’ is quite aptly named. It is indeed a sense, in the purest meaning of that word. A Chimera.
-Our identities (the people we imagine ourselves to be) are simply a narrative that we tell to ourselves (and indeed others when allowed) over the course of each day, week, and throughout our life.
Let’s take these two facets of Self, and give them a label. Imagine that there are two selves active at any given time within your head. The 'current self', and the 'remembering self'.
The current self is experiencing life in real-time, with a sensory memory of about three seconds that can echo on in the 30 seconds of your short term memory deciphering and sorting the plethora of sensory input that bombards us at every moment. With this we see that base pleasures like that slice of cake or a dram of scotch are fleeting, though potent nonetheless.
So by contrast, the remembering self is responsible for providing the current self with new memories with which to then fondly recall (and indeed embellish to our peers). That is the part of you that lets you sit back and reflect on what memories make you happy, and anticipate new experiences with the thick solvent of practiced memory.
For example, I put pepper on my eggs and enjoy the sensation. Before even an hour has past the memory is but a wispy strand in my mind; the experience numbed by the anaesthetic of repetition. But what I do recall when I get that first whiff of pepper as I shake it is my grandfather, who seemed to shake the stuff over his cereal if he could get away with it. That is my remembering self striding in and taking cue from my current self and bringing up a moment of reflection.
So far, we see that either sense of self on its own is powerful, but not fulfilling as a whole unless behaving symbiotically. Your memories are not going to spark at each separate occasion you have felt satiated, just as you will not be in the mood to reflect upon things if you are not contented. But I do believe I have found a vessel that brings these two mental demands together with surprising frequency:
The pipe.
You get the alluring pleasure of complete sensory gratification whilst forcing a calm and reflective outlook that sharpens memories, and sometimes even creates new ones. The current self and the remembering self are completely at peace with each other, something that is rare when it comes to the gratification of our more hedonistic impulses.
Perhaps that is why we stick to it?
