Ever since we have been on earth as human beings, we have constantly tried to get to know our surroundings and ourselves. We can understand the importance of man's effort to know and make sense of himself, from the phrase written in golden letters on the wall of the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, one of the most important cities of Ancient Greece: γνῶθι σεαυτόν, so know yourself! In fact, the adventure of knowing and knowing oneself has been one of the subjects that the greatest thinkers of history worked on. For example, it is said that the famous philosopher Socrates stated that "an unexamined life is not worth living" and that every individual should think about himself and his life. Indeed, in order for our existence as human beings to gain meaning, we need to examine ourselves and the elements that make us who we are, as much as we examine the outside world. We are no longer in Socrates' time, and the modern times we experience are very different from his. So how should we proceed?
Awareness is one of the most important concepts at this point. All of us, in our twenties, thirties and beyond, regret some of our past decisions, and see that what we wanted or thought was good for us at that time was not actually the case, that is, we were wrong. Sometimes we get lost in endless searches. Maybe it's because we're not honest with ourselves? Or we have never actually asked ourselves who we are and therefore we do not know ourselves well enough. This state of unconsciousness inevitably blunts our potential, causes us to draw imaginary boundaries and chain ourselves. The fact that we are in constant conflict and conflict with ourselves is always due to the same unconsciousness and sleepiness. So how do we wake up?
We need to adapt to the changing, transforming and developing new conditions and increase our awareness level again in each new period. For this, we must first be aware that we are sleeping. Second, we must become aware of the patterns that have been imposed on us since birth, such as personality traits, prejudices, priorities, what is meaningful or not. This is exactly where the sun shows its rays and the new day begins. This is the point where we throw our burdens aside, take a deep breath and start a brand new life full of beauty and love with all our energy and highest potential.
There are some books and podcasts that I think will help us get to know ourselves first and allow us to place ourselves in a meaningful position on the timeline from the past to the future. You may have seen, read and heard some of these before. Maybe you're seeing some of them for the first time here.
The author I want to put at the top of the book list Yuval Noah Harari and his two books: Homo sapiens and Homo Deus. Two of the most popular works of the past years worldwide. I think they should be read one after the other because only when read that way, the past narrative forms a unity with the future prediction and we can better understand our place in the universe. In Homo Sapiens, Harari chronicles the adventures of ancient human species to evolve and dominate the world thanks to their ability to cooperate. In Homo Deus, on the other hand, he conveys his ideas about how human beings develop further with science and technology and take on the role of a god. Harari offers a very valuable reading process for one's self-knowledge and self-positioning. The third book I would recommend is Clarissa Pinkola Estes'of Women Running with the Wolves'NS. Estes, drawing a similarity between wolves and women, defends the thesis that the main strength of women lies in their instincts and that they can become aware of their creativity and power only by embracing their own "wild" nature. It is possible for everyone to find a way to save themselves from the wearisome environment of modernity in this work, which interprets the myth of the wild woman through fairy tales. The last book I would recommend is one of the most important theater writers of ancient Greek literature, Euripides'of Medea'NS. Even though it has been nearly 25 centuries, it is a subject that still preserves its freshness, a contradiction that is still alive… Medea, who cannot accept being cheated on by her husband, lost herself as a result of the depressive conflict between her motherhood and womanhood and entered an irreversible path. Finally, it is possible to discover something about ourselves by looking at the lives of others and benefiting from their experiences. In this respect Nilay Example'of How to be The podcast series named contains very valuable advice.
Given all this, fortunately there is a school, a university, Youniversity, to teach us, to help us understand our true nature, and to better understand what life has taught us. https://www.youniversity.world/
Yuval Noah Harari - Homo Sapiens
Yuval Noah Harari - Homo Deus
Clarissa Pinkola Estes - Women Who Run With the Wolves
Euripides - Medea
Nilay Example - How to Become?
It is possible to graduate from a university again with our whole life experience by questioning what we know from a different perspective and improving our experiences.
