Running Head: SELF: THE BORDER THAT SET US APART FROM “THE OTHER"

Self: The Border that Sets Us Apart from “The Other”

Diego Nigel Rodriguez

University of Texas at EL Paso

RWS 1302

Professor Hernandez
SELF: THE BORDER THAT SET US APART FROM “THE OTHER" 2

Self: The Border that Sets Us Apart from “The Other”

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

capable of forming a consciousness and how is it that consciousness operates, respectively. To

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.

The Mind and Consciousness

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

definition, Damasio (2010) defines consciousness as “a state of mind in which there is

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

on it, thus if there is no mind, there is no conscience (Damasio, 2010, p.168).

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

the autobiographical-self, and finally the autobiographical-self leads to a coherent linkage of

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

book, he gives a condensed not-so-technical explanation focusing on the autobiographical-self

SELF: THE BORDER THAT SET US APART FROM “THE OTHER" 4

during the interview and a brief mention in his TED Talk. Damasio presents the

autobiographical-self as a collection of unique chronological memories that, in some way, hold

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

way to determine this statement, since it cannot be studied.

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

to the book, allowing for an easier understanding such complex topic.

SELF: THE BORDER THAT SET US APART FROM “THE OTHER" 6

REFERENCES

Vala, Filipa, director. Antonio Damasio on the Autobiographical Self and Why It Evolved.

Vimeo, Filipa Vala, 13 July 2014, vimeo.com/100646181.

TED (2011, December 19). Antonio Damasio: The quest to understand consciousness [Video

File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMrzdk_YnYY

Damasio, A. R. (2010). Self comes to mind: Constructing the conscious brain. New York:

Pantheon Books.