The basis of "self-existence" When everyone is one or two years old, they are stupid and don't understand anything. They look at the sun in their mother's arms, that is the sun, look at the moon, it is the moon, and look at the stars. It’s just the stars. I can see everything clearly and truly. I never have any doubts. I just feel that the sun, moon, and stars have always been there. They are a kind of existence. I close my eyes to sleep, and when I wake up, I open them. Look again, they are still there. Although I didn't know who I was at the time, I didn't think about whether I existed. At this age, there is no brain to think or ask: Who is "I"? Do I exist? In fact, in the physical world, I am a piece of matter, with a material body, eating material food, sleeping on a material bed, and wearing material clothes. Everything is material. "I" is like the sun and the moon. , like stars, is a material existence. Probably starting from the age of two or three, I gradually became familiar with the name "I" called by others, and saw "I" in the mirror: my face, body, clothes, and actions, and I mentally connected these appearances with my name. , forming a more complete "I". For this "I" that is combined with appearance and name, everyone begins to have some interest in it, and is also trying to distinguish the difference between "I" and the moon. I still remember that when I was about 4 years old, I saw a moon in front of the house at night. Then I ran to the back of the house to look, and found that there was also a moon behind the house. Then I quickly ran to the front of the house to look, and there was another moon in front of the house. There is a moon. Just like this, I ran back and forth, and unexpectedly found that when I ran, the moon also ran with me. The moon ran as fast as I ran. When I ran and stopped suddenly, The moon also stops suddenly. After many runs, I finally discovered that there was the same moon in front of and behind the house. It always followed me wherever I went. I was so happy at the time that I told my friend, "The moon is mine, and it follows me. If you don't believe me, just follow me and see!" Indeed, when we were young, we felt that I was the moon, and the moon was me, and we could not clearly distinguish between ourselves and the moon. The moon is two different things, but the moon and "I" are confused together, just like the song "The moon represents my heart". Later, when I went to elementary school, I would pay attention to my academic performance and hope that I would be a "good student". However, I spent more time playing crazy with my classmates after school, climbing on walls and houses, and never cared about what "I" was or what "I" was. "Whether it exists, is it matter or soul. Probably since I was in junior high school, my body has developed a bit, and I like beautiful girls, so I started to pay attention to my appearance. When no one is at home, I secretly look in the mirror and make expressions in the mirror to see if I look handsome. In school, I also pay attention to how my classmates view me and evaluate me. Although I don't say it, I still think about it in my heart: "What kind of person am I?" Since adolescence, I have paid special attention to my own psychological activities and appearance, and that's when I started to pay special attention to it. Focus on and explore the self. This is probably the stage of rapid formation of self-awareness in adolescence. Each of us has had roughly the same experience as mentioned above, but the specific time may be slightly different. This is called psychological development, or psychological development. Everyone has almost the same experiences and feelings while growing up. As we grow into adulthood, we have learned a lot of scientific knowledge and know how vast the universe is. We know that there are electrons in atoms and even smaller particles in atomic nuclei. However, we have always known very little about ourselves. As we grow older, gain more knowledge, and enhance our thinking ability, we will begin to wonder: Is this the world really like this? When we look at ourselves in the mirror, we only see our own clothes and cannot see the naked body inside the clothes. So, when we look at the external world, do we only see the "clothes" of the external world and never see the naked body inside? What about seeing its "nude" interior? Is our scientific knowledge knowledge about the "clothing" of the world, or is it knowledge about the "nude" inside it? Such an expression is an important concept put forward by the philosopher Kant, "thing-in-itself", or "thing-in-itself", which means that we can only see the appearance of the external world, but the true appearance of the material world , we can never see it, because it is always wearing a layer of "clothes". At most, we can only guess the size of its "nude" through the shape of the clothes, but we can never directly see its body. . If the material world really has a "thing-in-itself" that we will never recognize, as Kant said, then well, since it can't be seen or touched, why should we bother? It is better to simply give up exploring it. We just need to believe in the appearance of the material world we see. This is a more worry-free approach. At this time, we will ask, what is existence? Existence is nothing else. Existence is everything we can see and perceive. All that is perceived by us is what we call "existence." This is exactly what Berkeley said: "Existence is what is perceived." ". This is how the external world is perceived by us. We perceive the existence of the external world. In other words, it is precisely because the external world can be perceived by us that we form a belief that the external world is an objective existence. .

In fact, we have not yet been able to distinguish between "perception" and "existence" in our thinking as different concepts. If the external world is a kind of existence, then what is "I" like? Does "I" exist? In what way does "I" exist? How can we know that "I" exists? You see, people are like this. The older they get, the more problems they have, the less they understand, and the more trouble they have. When we were children, we never paid attention to these issues, but when we grew up, we began to care about them, and they really became an important issue. Moreover, some people have been thinking about these issues all their lives, and they are Called a "philosopher". The French philosopher Descartes spent a lot of time in this regard. He was skeptical of all existences in the world. In the end, he felt that he could no longer doubt whether he existed, because if even his own thinking and existence were If he has doubts, then he will have no way to survive and think about problems. Therefore, he adopted a method similar to mathematical proof for his own existence and proposed "I Think Then I Am". What he meant was, how can we know that "I" exists? Because "I am thinking", since "I" are thinking, therefore, it is possible to reason and prove "I exist". Argument by contradiction: How can I think if I don't exist? ! Now, if I ask you: Do you think "I" exist? You will definitely say: Of course, because I have seen you. I said: Can you tell that I exist when you see me? You replied: If you don't believe it, I can use instruments to prove that you exist. I can take a photo of you and show it to you to prove that you exist. If you continue to say that you don't exist, I can take the photo. The court and the judge will definitely determine that you do exist. I said again: If my body was transparent, like air, could you still see me and take photos of me? Can you still prove that I exist? Can the judge still decide that I do exist? You will hesitate, and then say: It seems that it can't be done (at this time you will think in your heart, "Humph, ignore him, this person is sick!") Then I will tell you clearly: Haha, you don't have to bother, even if I My body is as transparent as air. I know whether I exist or not, and I don’t need you to prove it. You ask curiously: How do you know that you exist? What evidence do you have? I said: It's very simple, because my stomach will be hungry. When I am hungry, I feel that uncomfortable feeling. You don't need to prove that I exist. I feel hungry myself; when I hold my urine and can't find the toilet. , and you don’t need to prove whether I exist, I know how to find the toilet myself; when I picked up 1 million yuan on the road, I don’t need you to prove that I exist, I will just have fun there by myself, when I feel sad When I am, only I know it. Even if you take a camera, you can't capture my mood. Therefore, whether I exist or not, these feelings of mine will tell me. This is called "a blind man eats dumplings and knows what he knows". You don't need to see my existence at all, and you don't need to use any equipment to tell me. I take pictures or use logical reasoning to prove my existence. Through these feelings I can be sure that I am still alive and exist. This is the simplest and most basic way. Don't you believe that's the case? Okay, now let us look at another clinical case to help us understand how "I" know whether I exist. A high school boy suffered from episodic heart pain and a sense of impending death. A "panic attack" was diagnosed. The doctor prescribed some kind of SSRI antidepressant drug. After taking it, he felt very effective. He no longer had heart pain or near-death attacks, but he was a little sleepy. At the same time, a new problem arose: he felt that the whole world had become fake, and he even felt as if he was dead. . Doctor: Look at the buildings and trees outside. Do you think there are any changes in size, shape, color, brightness, etc. compared to the past? Patient: When I look at it with my eyes, there is no change in the aspects you mentioned. I also know intellectually that these are no different from the past. Doctor: Then, how do you say this world is fake? Patient: Because when I look outside, although my eyes look real, in my heart, they become fake. Doctor: Why? Patient: Because when I saw these things in the past, I would have corresponding emotional changes. For example, when I saw the sun was shining brightly, I would feel happier, and when I saw the clouds were gathering, I would feel depressed. But now, when I see these changes in the outside world, my mood has not changed at all. My mood does not change with the changes in the external environment. External changes are out of tune with my mood and I lose contact. This is very inconsistent with my past experience. Therefore, I feel that the world is no longer vivid and the whole world has become It’s fake. Doctor: Why did you “die” yourself? Patient: This is my suspicion. I clearly know that I still have breathing and heartbeat. Judging by reason, I know that I am still alive. However, I feel that I have no passion for life, and I can’t even feel the pain. I see Looking at the clock, I can see the second hand turning, but I don't have any thoughts. I have no desires and demands. My heart is so peaceful that I feel strange. Therefore, I doubted whether I was already dead.

...The above case allows us to see that the so-called "external world has become fake" is because the patient lacks corresponding emotional changes in his heart. He also lacks happiness and pain, let alone desire and motivation. Although the patient can rationally judge that he is still alive and the external world has not really changed when he looks at it with his eyes, he still "feels" that the external world has become fake based on his mood and feelings. , and he seemed to be dead. When I asked him carefully, he was also able to express his "no feeling" feelings. During the interview, he was able to perceive his own mental state, which means that there is no problem with his thinking and logical reasoning ability. , and the conclusion that he "feels as if he is dead" is based on his "lack of corresponding emotions" and "no desire and motivation". Since his current state is very inconsistent with his past experiences and feelings, he doesn't know whether he is still alive or whether he still exists. Therefore, we can say that the sense of self-existence is not the result of logical reasoning and argumentation, but a subjective feeling of self. So, how do people feel that they exist? First of all, from a psychological perspective, the establishment of a sense of self-existence comes from three types of feelings: 1. Various feelings from the body, such as hunger, heat and cold, pain, etc. 2. It comes from the body’s sense of balance, proprioception (knowing the posture of your body and where your arms and legs are placed), sense of movement, etc. 3. Desire, motivation, emotion, will, etc. from psychology. The above-mentioned psychological feelings are always carried around by the body. They are always combined with the body and never separated. Over time, we will feel that I have a body and I also have a mind. These two Both aspects exist, and these two together constitute the overall "my existence". In psychological terms, the entire self is called "self." These inner feelings are the internal basis for establishing a sense of self-existence. If people want to form a clear concept of "self-existence", it is not enough to have the above-mentioned internal psychological basis. It must also be demonstrated and helped to form through interpersonal relationships. The self exists in comparison with others and the environment. For example, when I was a child, my mother held "me" and "I" looked at her. I didn't know who my mother was, and I didn't know who "I" was. I just felt that my mother and I were one (***birth period, birth to 6 months). Later, with my psychological development, my eyes could see the distance, and I also found that my mother would sometimes walk away. When she was hungry, she would scratch her ears and cheeks. When she cried, "I" could put my hands in my mouth to eat, but I couldn't. Use your inner strength to let your mother come through. This experience helps us distinguish ourselves from our mother as two different people. When my mother carries "me" out of the room and comes to the yard, I will find that the bed and ceiling do not come out with me, but my body and my mood follow me to the yard. Such experience can help "I" distinguish myself from the environment. These are the external basis for establishing the concept of self. The internal psychological basis is combined with external basis such as interpersonal relationships, the relationship between the individual and the environment, and together constitute the individual's "self-existence".

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