renee

An interesting quotation from The Elegance of the Hedgehog

For millennia now, by way of 'knowing thyself' to 'I think therefore I am', mankind has been rambling on about the ridiculous human preorgative that is our consciousness of our own existence and above all the ability of this consciousness to make itself its own object. When something itches, a man scratches and is aware that he is scratching. If you ask him 'what are you doing?', he will reply 'I'm scratching myself'. If you push your questioning a bit further (are you aware that you are conscious of the fact that you are scratching yourself?), he will again reply 'yes', and thus ad infinitum to as many are-you-aware-and-conscious questions as you wish. Does this, however, leave the man with any less of itch to know that he is scratching and is aware of it? Can reflective consciousness have a beneficial influence on he order of the itching? Nay, not in the slightest.

Lots of reading material to prep for english essay :]