Why KANT We Know Who We Are?

Soul surfing is everywhere.  People are always searching for themselves, trying to learn who they are, what they want, where they belong.  But Kant claims we can’t.  We can’t comprehend what we are. 

It’s one of those questions without an answer.  How can we hope to live not knowing what we are?  The stereotypical teenager walks around believing that nobody understands them.  Nobody gets them.  Well, here’s the fact.  No one does.  Nobody can understand you because YOU don’t understand you.

Reading that was kind of like a light bulb going off.  There are so many things about me that are a mystery.  There are things about each of us that are mysteries, even to ourselves.  We cannot hope to know ourselves fully, and that may scare some. 

Personally, it’s just enlightening.  Realizing that there are things about me I’ll never know is almost exciting.  In a way, my life will always be a mystery… there will always be things out there I don’t understand.  That may seem like a very limiting idea, but it’s really not.  Not knowing things almost gives you more power than knowing them.  I realize I’m not making sense, so let me try to draw this out.

Imagine you hear an unfamiliar sound in the middle of the night.  Maybe you hear a bang.  Your mind is instantly alert and filled with ideas of what is happening outside your room.  You run through scenario after scenario.  Is it a robber?  Is someone in the house?  Are they going to hurt me?  Did a family member fall down somewhere?  Our minds are capable of coming up with absurd answers that may be far from the truth.  Because we don’t know what is happening, we are given the power to try to figure it out.

It’s human nature to question things… if we knew everything, what would we do with ourselves?  We would be bored out of our minds. 

That’s why I believe that not understanding myself isn’t a weakness. It’s an opportunity.  It’s a chance for me to get to think about it. 

Who we are is a question we ponder our entire lives.  We learn more and more about ourselves every day. The fact that we will never fully understand only means that there is much more to be learned.  We may not ever know it all, but that doesn’t mean we can’t figure out the basic concepts and keep pursuing an answer.  

Maybe it’s just me but knowing there are things out there to be learned is exciting. 

Who cares if Kant thinks I can’t understand myself?  I mean, he’s probably right but that won’t stop me from trying, and from being excited every time I get one step closer.