I have noticed this strange habit in humans. It could perhaps be referred to as dissociation or analyzing, but it comes in many forms. There is this prevailing habit to look at oneself and events in ones life as though there is a separation between the observing self and the experiencing self. We look at ourselves and events in our lives as though we were not present in them but instead watched them from a distance. Further, we have developed a split consciousness and a split sense of self between the consciousness that is active in a moment and the consciousness that is observing its own activities. For instance, I might take a memory and treat it as though there is a consciousness that is conjuring the image and then another separate consciousness that is describing the details of the image. We assume that consciousness can somehow watch itself.

Some researchers might refer to this phenomenon as self-awareness. However, I do not think it is necessary or entirely logical to split consciousness up in this way. Intentionality basically says that consciousness is always conscious of something. Husserl believed that consciousness could be directed towards itself and its own activities. I would hold that this is true, but when used in the extreme it can be very…deceptive and indirect.

To be continued…