12/1/2019 Self-reflection - Wikipedia

Self-reflection
Human self-reflection is the capacity of humans to
exercise introspection and to attempt to learn more about
their fundamental nature and essence.

The earliest historical records demonstrate the great interest

that humanity has had in itself. More than 3,000 years ago,
Know thyself, an ancient maxim by the Delphic oracle, Pythia,
was inscribed on the forecourt of the Temple of Apollo when it
was built over one of the oldest known religious sites in
Ancient Greece.

Human self-reflection is related to the philosophy of

consciousness, the topic of awareness, consciousness in
general, and the philosophy of mind.

Contents
Self-Reflection In Meditation - This penultimate scene of the Admonitions Scroll
shows a palace lady sitting in quiet contemplation,
History
presumably following the admonitions in the
Early writings
accompanying lines:[1] "Therefore I say: Be
Classical antiquity
cautious and circumspect in all you do, and from
Middle Ages
this good fortune will arise. Calmly and
Renaissance
respectfully think about your actions, and honor
Modern era
and fame will await you."
Comparison to other species
Scientific Study of Self Reflection and Sobriety
See also
References

Self-Reflection In Meditation -
Often during meditation humans experience introspection. When the brain experiences introspection, it is reflecting
upon itself. The action is described as "the looking into our own minds and reporting what we there discover".[2]

A study done by Cara Rosaen and Rita Benn analyzed middle school students who had not meditated prior to the
study. Researchers found young people meditating for the first time experienced "improvement in skills indicative of
emotional intelligence (self-control, self-reflection/awareness, and flexibility in emotional response)".[2] The study
concluded saying that middle school students who meditated for the first time experienced "increased state of restful
alertness and greater capacity for self-reflection, self-control, and flexibility as well as improved academic
performance."[2]

History

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Early writings
Notions about the status of humanity may be revealed by the etymology of ancient words for humans. Latin homo (PIE
*dʰǵʰm̥ mō) means "of the earth, earthling", probably in opposition to "celestial" beings. Greek ἂνθρωπος (mycenaean
*anthropos) means "low-eyed", again probably contrasting with a divine perspective.

From the third-millennium Old Kingdom of Egypt, belief in an eternal afterlife of the human ka is documented along
with the notion that the actions of a person would be assessed to determine the quality of that existence. A claim of
dominance of humanity alongside radical pessimism because of the frailty and brevity of human life is asserted in the
Hebrew Bible Genesis 1:28, where dominion of humans is promised, but contrarily, the author of Ecclesiastes, bewails
the vanity of all human effort.

Classical antiquity
Protagoras made the famous claim that humans are "the measure of all things; of what is, that it is; of what is not,
that it is not". Socrates advocated the ancient adage for all humans to "Know thyself", and gave the (doubtlessly
tongue-in-cheek) definition of humans as, "featherless bipeds" (Plato, Politicus). Aristotle described humans as the
"communal animal" (ζῶον πολιτικόν), i.e., emphasizing society-building as a central trait of human nature, and being a
"thought bearer animal" (ζῶον λόγον ἔχον, animal rationale), a term that also may have inspired the species
taxonomy, Homo sapiens.

Middle Ages
The dominant world-view of medieval Europe, as directed by the Catholic Church, was that human existence is
essentially good and created in "original grace", but because of concupiscence, is marred by sin, and that its aim should
be to focus on a beatific vision after death. The thirteenth century pope, Innocent III, wrote about the essential misery
of earthly existence in his "On the misery of the human condition" – a view that was disputed by, for example,
Giannozzo Manetti in his treatise "On human dignity."

Renaissance
A famous quote of Shakespeare's Hamlet (II, ii, 115-117), expresses the contrast of human physical beauty, intellectual
faculty, and ephemeral nature:

What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! how infinite in faculties! in form and
moving, how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension, how like a
god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals! And yet, to me, what is this
quintessence of dust?

René Descartes famously and succinctly proposed: Cogito ergo sum[3] (French: "Je pense donc je suis"; English: "I
think, therefore I am"), not an assessment of humanity, but certainly reflecting a capacity for reasoning as a
characteristic of humans, that potentially, could include individual self-reflection.

Modern era
The Enlightenment was driven by a renewed conviction, that, in the words of Immanuel Kant, "Man is distinguished
above all animals by his self-consciousness, by which he is a 'rational animal'." In conscious opposition to this
tradition during the nineteenth century, Karl Marx defined humans as a "labouring animal" (animal laborans). In the
early twentieth century, Sigmund Freud dealt a serious blow to positivism by postulating that, to a large part, human
behaviour is controlled by the unconscious mind.

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Comparison to other species

Various attempts have been made to identify a single behavioural
characteristic that distinguishes humans from all other animals.

Many anthropologists think that readily observable characteristics

(tool-making and language) are based on less easily observable
mental processes that might be unique among humans: the ability
to think symbolically, in the abstract, or logically, however, several
species have demonstrated some abilities in these areas and
neither is it clear at what point in human evolution these traits
became prevalent. Such characteristics may not be restricted to
the species, Homo sapiens, as the extinct species of the genus Selbstbetrachtung (self-reflection)
pen and ink drawing by Alfred Kubin (c. 1901)
Homo, since Homo neanderthalensis and Homo erectus were
adept tool makers and may have had linguistic skills.

In learning environments, reflection is an important processing part in order to maximize the utility of an experience.
Rather than moving on to the next 'task' humans may review the process and outcome of a task and – with the benefit
of a little distance (lapsed time) - may reconsider what the value of experience might be and for the context of which it
was a part.

Scientific Study of Self Reflection and Sobriety

A study involving clients in a twelve-step treatment program explored the role of self-reflection through diary writing,
not only as daily therapy, but in a retrospective context. The study concluded that clients who read and reflected on
their past diary entries demonstrated increased participation in the treatment program.[4] The 12 step program is
based on self reflection and the accountability of actions past. In the article by Mitchell Friedman, the author indicates
that success in one's recovery relies on self reflection.[5]

See also
Anthropocentrism
Awareness
Consciousness
Human condition
Identity (social science)
Introspection
Philosophy of mind
Psychological mindedness
Wisdom

References
1. McCausland, Shane (2003), First Masterpiece of Chinese Painting: The Admonitions Scroll, British Museum
Press, p. 78, ISBN 978-0-7141-2417-9
2. Rosaen, Cara; Benn, Rita (September 2006). "The Experience of Transcendental Meditation in Middle School
Students: A Qualitative Report". Explore. 2 (5): 422–425. doi:10.1016/j.explore.2006.06.001 (https://doi.org/10.101
6%2Fj.explore.2006.06.001). ISSN 1550-8307 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1550-8307). PMID 16979106 (http
s://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16979106).
3. Descartes, René; Principia Philosophiae (1644), Part 1, article 7:"Ac proinde hæc cognitio, ego cogito, ergo sum,
est omnium prima & certissima, quæ cuilibet ordine philosophanti occurrat."

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4. Stephenson, Geoffrey M.; Zygouris, Nikolaos (February 2007). "Effects of self reflection on engagement in a 12-
step addiction treatment programme: A linguistic analysis of diary entries". Addictive Behaviors. 32 (2): 416–424.
doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2006.05.011 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.addbeh.2006.05.011). ISSN 0306-4603 (https://w
ww.worldcat.org/issn/0306-4603). PMID 16822620 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16822620).
5. Friedman, Mitchell (2016-12-01). "The 12 Steps of Addiction Recovery Programs as an influence on leadership
development: a personal narrative". International Journal for Transformative Research. 3 (2): 15–23.
doi:10.1515/ijtr-2016-0009 (https://doi.org/10.1515%2Fijtr-2016-0009). ISSN 2353-5415 (https://www.worldcat.org/
issn/2353-5415).

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