A couple of years ago when I was trying to find an answer one of life's difficult questions, I came across a method of recursive questioning. This lit a light bulb in my head since I knew about the magic of recursion but it had never occurred to me to use it in the context of finding answer in my mind.
What is recursion? It's a logical method that asks a question repeatedly until the answer breaks the repetitive cycle. Each time the question is asked, the context evolves and shifts and the question takes on a different meaning. It is quite a powerful method, partly because it is so simple.
Recently I bumped into a conversation where a new colleague challenges one of his peers with question: tell me who you are but don't give me your name, job title, address, age, marital status etc. My poor colleague thought for a while before deciding that this was too hard.
Who am I if I can't describe myself by the things that describe me? Who am I? I am not my name since I could change that and still be me. I am not my religion, profession and dress style for the same reasons. I am not my lifestyle, social status or age since they can all change whilst I remain me.
Am I my physical body? Let's do a gruesome mind experiment to test this premise. What if I surgically removed a hand, will I still be me? Of course, I would be very unhappy but fundamentally I would still be me. I could loose other limbs and even some or all of my senses and I would still be me. So, I am not my body.
That's amazing: I am not that what describes me and nor am I my body.
Am I my emotions? I can imagine a lifestyle that would make very happy and if anything, I would be more me than ever. Similarly it is easy to think of a lifestyle that would destroy my happiness. No doubt I would become a miserable introvert but unhappy as I would be, I would be me.
Am I my intelligence? How could I be? Intelligence is like height. We're born with more or less of it but apart from being gifted, it doesn't say much about us.
At least we can agree on one thing: I am alive, right? Who am I? I am alive. That sounds right. I remember my granddad very well. He died years ago but he was a great man. For me he still is a great man. He had his quirks but I liked him. Come to think of it, dead or alive, he is the same for me. I guess I will be me even when I'm gone. In fact I will always be me wherever I am.
Let me reiterate: I am not my identity, i.e. the things that describe me. I am not my body, emotions or intelligence. Basically, I am nothing. But I am also timeless or eternal and I am anywhere or everywhere. So, I am also all.
I am nothing and I am all. Who am I?
I am.
That simple answer is really profound. If we could really believe that, we'd view life very differently, completely detached for the simple reason that we are, anyway. The statement "I am" is without bounds and qualifying it any further would do us no justice, it would only limit us unnecessarily. By all means, we give our name and tell our friends what our likes and dislikes are but deep inside we must remember that we are much more than that. We are.
From this apparently simple premise, we can reconstruct a world that is comforting and rich. For example, if "I am" and "You are" then we can only conclude that "We are one". That should profoundly change the way we see each other. We may as well cooperate and care for each other. The converse conclusion might be that if we compete and dislike each other, not only do we show how little we understand ourselves; it also does us a great services since we are effectively competing with and disliking ourselves.
Knowing the answer to the question "Who am I?" is only a start and only part of the answers we are looking for. But it is a great start and on the basis that we are one, "we" will look further. Until then.
My life is a journey whose destination I am keen to avoid; I'm here for the exhilerating ride!
Linear Mode
