WHO AM I?: The Most Important Question

The question has a long history and can be traced back to Γνῶθι σαυτόν (Know thyself) – a maxim inscribed on the Temple of Apollo in Delphi (Greece).

Twenty-five centuries later, Carl Rogers (1902-1987, one of the creators of humanistic psychology) professed that humans can only become whole persons through self-discovery, and having an answer to the “Who am I?” question is necessary for a meaningful life.

We can add that self-discovery helps clarify what one truly wants to achieve in life, and this knowledge is also necessary for meaningful work. {ENDPOINT TIERS}

Many groups would try to downplay this question and instead focus a person’s attention on the group and its goals. The group’s stance on this question, vocalized by its mouthpieces, can measure the degree of a group’s tyranny over its members.

Excessively despotic groups might condemn your desire to discover yourself as a crime—at least, a “dangerous” step towards it. Meanwhile, they will feed you a ready answer to who you are and what you must want from their sacred books.

{GROUP GOAL MIX, CERTAINTY HOLDER, REALITY, GROUPTHINK, CONSTRAINTS OF A SYSTEM, SUBJECTIVITY}