Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Genre Analisys
Genre Analisys
Genre Analisys
RWS 1302
Professor Hernandez
SELF: THE BORDER THAT SET US APART FROM “THE OTHER" 2
What is Self? What composes it and how is it formed? How is it observed in our society?
The different works of Antonio Damasio will be analyzed to find the answer. In one of his
books, Self Comes to Mind, Damasio puts himself to the task of explaining what is Self and
Consciousness and how are both comprised. Damasio’s book consists of four parts, of which we
will be mainly focusing on Part II and Part III, in which he explores how the human mind is
complement the explanations of mind and consciousness, Damasio’s interview by the University
of Lisbon takes on the autobiographical-self and how it originates. All this, in conjunction with
his TED Talk, is needed to understand the complex explanations found in the book, along with
some extra comments from Damasio that allow for a better understanding of the topic.
What is the mind? To find the answer, Damasio examines the human brain. Both in his
book and his TED Talk, Damasio explains that just as every other living organism with a brain,
the human brain is in charge of regulating life, but what sets humans apart from the rest is the
“ability of creating maps” (Damasio, 2010, p. 67). In the book, he explains that a map, or neural
map, in the context of the brain, is the same as a map in the context of cartography; its function is
to create an abstract form of information that can be interpreted by the brain as a mental image
that can be used later as a guide for behavioral mechanisms (Damasio, 2010). What he condenses
in his TED Talk is that the brain creates a structured memory (map) which is interpreted as a
collection of senses (image) without the requirement of the object/event being present to the
senses. In order for the brain to register such map, it requires an interface that connects it to the
external world, thus the brain uses the body to gather information though its various sensors
SELF: THE BORDER THAT SET US APART FROM “THE OTHER" 3
(Damasio, 2011), allowing the brain to map its surroundings and creating the mind. By this
knowledge of one’s own existence and of the existence surroundings” (p. 167). One could argue
that such definitions are objectively similar to each other when contrasting them both, but
Damasio argues that this definition of consciousness captures only the essence of what it really
is, and presents a new constrain that sets consciousness apart from mind: wakefulness. Damasio
argues that consciousness is not that that is often called in the context of morality and is misused.
In order for a person to be conscious they must be awake, aware of their present, and aware of
their future actions (Damasio, 2010, p. 170). But since consciousness is a state of mind and relies
Self
In his book, Damasio (2010) states that in order for consciousness to work properly, it needs
the Self (p. 223). The self is composed of three sub-components, the proto-self, the core-self, and
the autobiographical-self. According to Damasio (2010), the first part of self, the proto-self
constitutes of evolutionary mechanisms that conformed by primordial feelings; these are feelings
that aid for survival, the core-self is in charge of the association of the primordial feeling to an
object or event that modifies a mental image and creates a bridge that connects the proto-self and
such mental images in a pattern that allows for consultation (p. 192). The sub-self of interest in
this case is the autobiographical-self, since humans share the first two with other organisms. It is
the one associated with what is referred as a “me” and is conveying is that our life experiences
are used as images for our behavior. While Damasio focuses on all the sub-parts of self on his
during the interview and a brief mention in his TED Talk. Damasio presents the
an emotional relevance for a specific person, as well as a personal knowledge base that is being
constantly reorganized, which allows for predictions of the future and since these are associated
with feelings and sense, allow for the distinction between self and others (Filipa Vala, July 13th,
2014), for example when encountered with an event or object, the mind consciously recalls any
other images that are relevant to the situation in order to determine behavior, actions, and
outcomes, but at the same time that event or object might change the relevance of other images
in the knowledge base (Filipa Vala, July 13th, 2014). Although it is briefly mentioned in his
interview and TED Talk, Damasio is certain that some animals have, to some extent, an
autobiographical-self that does not completely allows them to examine their past actions, it
creates a precedence of an image that functions as an instinct (Damasio, 2011), but there is no
Socio-Cultural Regulation
On his interview Damasio attributes the abilty of humans of humanity to solve complex
problems to the autobiographical-self. During his TED Talk, Damasio mentions that thanks to it,
humans have formed societies and it sub-components, while on his interview he focuses on the
solutions that humans have created for their survival, such as the early structures created for the
survival in different climates. Damasio presents to the audience the Biological origins of the
autobiographical-self on his TED Talk, in the same way he presents the information in his book,
and discusses how it is closely related to the areas in the brain associated to speech, linguistics,
and memory, and how it all takes place in the hippocampus (Damasio, 2011). Within the
autobiographical-self, Damasio defines the social-self and the spiritual-self. These are shaped by
SELF: THE BORDER THAT SET US APART FROM “THE OTHER" 5
the exposure of social events, places, teachings, etc., during a person’s lifetime (Damasio, 2014),
which in a sense, are in responsible for shaping what a person’s political, religious, etc., are at a
given moment.
Conclusion
Damasio, from a neurological point of view, takes himself into the “quest” to properly
explore, understand, and explain the evolutionary process that has allowed humans to thrive: the
brain, the mind, the consciousness, and the self. All of the previously mentioned, work together
in an unimaginable complex manner, in harmony one could say. The biology behind these
theorems is amazingly complex. From these premises, Damasio explores the enigmatic
consciousness mainly in his book and in his TED Talk, establishing that the mind is a flow of
mental images that develops during a lifetime. The self is what makes people unique, as one
could call it as what is known as a soul, taking into account one’s life experiences, and feelings.
The self explored in more detail in his book, but in the interview the information is presented in a
condensed but efficient manner. Finally, although the interview has a focus on autobiographical-
self, both the interview and the TED Talk are more condensed and comprehensive complements
REFERENCES
Vala, Filipa, director. Antonio Damasio on the Autobiographical Self and Why It Evolved.
TED (2011, December 19). Antonio Damasio: The quest to understand consciousness [Video
Damasio, A. R. (2010). Self comes to mind: Constructing the conscious brain. New York:
Pantheon Books.