The Sound of the Mountain by Yasunari Kawabata

For those inclined toward religion and spirituality, visionaries throughout history have proclaimed that the egoic self stymies the quest for spiritual fulfillment and leads to immoral behavior.

Ironically, many sources of personal unhappiness - such as addictions, overeating, unsafe sex, infidelity, and domestic violence - are due to people's inability to exert self-control. The ability to self-reflect also underlies social conflict by leading people to separate themselves into ingroups and outgroups. For when you havent yet decided what kind of. Design A mens leather briefcase that is classic but unassuming. Egocentrism and egotism blind people to their own shortcomings, promote self-serving biases, and undermine their relationships with others. Yasunari Kawabata, The sound of the Mountain. The self conjures up a great deal of personal suffering in the form of depression, anxiety, anger, envy, and other negative emotions by allowing people to ruminate about the past or imagine the future. Among other things, the capacity for self-reflection distorts people's perceptions, leading them to make bad decisions based on faulty information. Indeed, self-relevant thought is responsible for most of the personal and social difficulties that human beings face as individuals and as a species. Yet, despite the obvious advantages of self-reflection, the capacity for self-thought comes at a high price as people's lives are adversely affected and their inner chatter interferes with their success, pollutes their relationships, and undermines their happiness. Because they have a capacity for self-awareness not shared by other animals, people can imagine themselves in the future, anticipate consequences, plan ahead, improve themselves, and perform many other behaviors that are uniquely characteristic of human beings. Human beings are unique in their ability to think consciously about themselves.

The Sound of the Mountain by Yasunari Kawabata