Self knowledge can't be taught

[Naer]

It always have to be from the self. You can't transfer self knowledge

 

Anyone agree with this?

[cherapple]

If it's not possible to transfer self-knowledge, is it possible to teach and transfer the skills of gaining self-knowledge?

 

What about shared feelings? Can empathy experienced from others, and felt for others, make it possible to gain more self-understanding, and thus more self-knowledge? 

 

I'm not sure whether these answer your question. Why is it important to you to make this point and to have it be agreed with? In what context do you ask?

[Naer]

If it's not possible to transfer self-knowledge, is it possible to teach and transfer the skills of gaining self-knowledge?What about shared feelings? Can empathy experienced from others, and felt for others, make it possible to gain more self-understanding, and thus more self-knowledge? I'm not sure whether these answer your question. Why is it important to you to make this point and to have it be agreed with? In what context do you ask?

Self knowledge by definition can only be attained through the self. Occam's razor says that the simpler answer is e best, so the most local knowledge is the simplest which is the self therefore is the best. If we are talking about something that can be taught, I think that would constitute knowledge, but if we were to add in the self part, that would be something specific. Perhaps the reason I brought it up is because of the Roman Catholic instruction that I recieved in my childhoodEdit: I had a silver donator under my old name. The account got deleted, dunno why. Maybe due to inactivity?

[MysterionMuffles]

I think the tools for gaining self knowledge can be taught. It certainly is the case when I've picked up books like The Power of Now, The 6 Pillars of Self Esteem and Real-Time Relationships. The use of external information that gives perspective on things you may not be able to see too clearly when you're wrapped up in your own, I think, would help you...well...put things in perspective.

 

It's hard to say, sometimes it feels like these things I've learned from books are things that I've already known inherently, but just didn't have the verbalization of concepts to understand them better. I'll get back to you on this after I see what everyone else's input is.

 

Ultimately, self knowledge can only be obtained within the self, but I think the tools can be taught in the sense of learning how to ask yourself the right questions.

[LovePrevails]

I can't walk to Barcelona for you but I can show you the map.

[Wesley]

I can't play guitar for you and you be able to play it, but I can give you a couple of lessons, give you a couple tips, and let you know where you might need to go.

 

You also can learn on your own, but it will take you a lot longer to learn.

 

Learning anything is 95%+ your own work and practice. However, help and learning techniques, tips, and tricks can easily improve things and make them go faster.

 

Self knowledge is almost all my work, but if I don't run things by people every once in a while, I would be much less effective in my practice and get stuck much for much longer when I have a block.

[Ruben Zandstra]

The analogies of guitarplaying and walking to barcelona are somewhat missing Naers point I think.

Both guitarplaying and going to barcelona require more or less objective skill-sets that are beyond the personal realm, they deal with objects in a shared physical world, and you can instruct people on them without having to deal with each person's most individual aspects, their histories etc. Each guitar is a guitar, directions to Barcelona are equal for each and everyone with the same starting point.

 

I certainly agree that when trying to get self-knowledge other people may help, and are perhaps essential, books may help ( shape your thoughts on things you already kind of know, shuffle some inner cards etc.) but I  agree with Naer that basically it has to come from within. There can be no general instructions like roadmaps or chord-diagrams. Better comparions to the attainment of Self-knowledge might be: to find out where the music is coming from, or to study yourself like a geographical map.

[TheRobin]

idk, I think I've greatly benefited from being taught some basic principles or models of how to relate or understand one's own behaviour and emotions, without which I'd still be either without a lot of knowledge of myself or with a lot less. I can even compare the models I came in contact and use now to those earlier and can clearly see a huge different in results of gaining knowledge and understanding (and having actual or mroe acces to) myself.

So in that regards I think being given good tools is highly necessary and recommedable.

 

To bring up the map analogy again. Since we all start on a different point, our road to Barcelona will lead us to different terrain, but having an approximate knowledge of the location of the endpoint, our starting point and a functioning compass are irreplacable if we ever want to get there, even though none of these tools can tell us anything of what kind of terrain we have to walk through.

[Kevin Beal]

Sure, it can be taught.

 

The concept of psychoanalysis focuses on the relationship of the analyst and the client. The analyst models healthy ways of relating to ourselves and us as clients learn new tools to practice relating to ourselves.

 

What would it mean to learn except through relationship? A math teacher doesn't type an equation into our brains and have us regurgitate the answer. Principles are put forward and the application of those principles is demonstrated. The same is true for self knowledge.

 

There are things unique to each and every person, but not everything. Those things we have in common are important and a huge part of self knowledge, but even the things that are unique to ourselves can be taught to us. I had this insecurity that my shoulders weren't broad enough, and then someone told me they thought I had great shoulders and that my insecurity was not because I had bad shoulders.

 

I'm not sure how you can reasonably distinguish learning the tools involved in self knowledge from self knowledge itself. You can't learn conclusions, to learn is to learn tools/principles.

[Pepin]

I think there are issues with the base premise of the question, but anyway there is so much I've learned about myself through other's experience of me. There are large parts of myself that I don't have accurate access to and need to help of others to figure out. Most of these are to do with social interaction. I, like many other people do not have a very accurate view of myself in certain social situations. I may think I act in a certain way, but may find that I really don't.

 

This is actually something that I suffer from quite a bit due to being rather disconnected from emotions. My facial expression will contradict my thoughts in the moment. This resulted in a lot of confusion until a friend pointed it out to me.

 

It's hard to say, sometimes it feels like these things I've learned from books are things that I've already known inherently, but just didn't have the verbalization of concepts to understand them better.

 

I can certainly relate to this. There are even a good number of ideas that I am skeptical of such as the mecosystem, but with a bit of time I realize that I've always accepted the multiplicity of the self.

[Lens]

Self-knoweldge cannot be taught. But people can show you how they got to better know themselves.

One very precious place to get self-knowledge is childhood.

 

When we are born we came with a true self parents education taught us to hide it because being who we are is not acceptable to them so we developed a false self in order to please them but also out of fear of punishment and rejection. So we buried our true Self from us and from the world.

 

When you know your truth (your childhood history) and your feelings little by little you come to know yourself better.

 

Good luck in better knowing yourself! 

 

Lens

[Stephen C]

Quality therapy is self knowledge tutoring. 

[JamesP]

To add another couple of analogies:

 

I can tell you how I lost weight, but I can't burn off your fat for you.

I can tell you how I managed to wakl again after a tragic accident, but I can't do physical therapy for you.

I can tell you how I manage my diabetes, but I can't take the insulin shots for you.

 

Self-knowledge isn't a possession. It's like health–it comes about through the accumulation of good habits and self-care.

 

There are some who will probably never pursue self-knowledge. There are also some who make some efforts but abandon them for some reason (usually due to some relationship they don't want to examine too closely).

 

Did you disagree with this statement?