To govern means to direct, guide, pilot, control, command, care for, guard, nurture, something or someone; self-government means to govern oneself. Come to think of it, self-government seems an absurdity. For how can a thing govern itself? Governing presupposes an object of government, that is, a governed entity. In the case of self-government a same thing would be both governing and governed. An absurdity, unless we divide the person interested in self-government into two distinct entities: one that governs and one that is governed by the other.
If the governing part of the human being is the conscious self, then the governed part is the rest of the body and mind, including the unconscious. But the matter becomes complicated in that the conscious self, which in the following we will simply call “I,” is dependent on the rest of the body and mind, which in the following we will simply call “me.”
So how can a certain entity govern another on which it depends for its life and functioning? In fact, the “I,” in order to govern, needs information and energy that comes to it from the “me. Indeed, we can say that the “I” cannot in any way perceive the world directly and on its own, but only through the information provided to it by the “me,” and can make its decisions only on the basis of it. In fact, without the me, the “I” could neither exist nor function nor know the world.
We can therefore say that the will of the me is not a first cause, but the consequence of other wills residing in the unconscious and involuntary part of the body. In other words, the conscious will is willed by other wills other than itself and located elsewhere.
Because of the above, one could turn the situation upside down and say that it is the me that governs theself.
I assume, however, that both hypotheses are true, that is, at the same time theme governs the me and theme governs the me, each with its own modalities and limitations. We can therefore assume bidirectional self-government and play with words by claiming that the will is involuntary.
On the other hand, if it is true that the conscious self is an evolutionarily more recent development than the rest of the body, then we can assume that it has a service function rather than a command function, that is, that it commands the body only to serve it, that is, to meet the body’s needs as effectively and efficiently as possible, and should have no other motivation.
Self-government by the conscious self can be regarded as the exercise of free will (see the chapter of the same name). In fact, asking whether free will is possible is equivalent to asking whether self-government is possible; moreover, for the same reasons that it is convenient to believe that free will is possible, it is convenient to believe that self-government is possible as well.
Before proceeding with our reflections, it is good to distinguish two types of self-government: unconscious and conscious. The former is what normally occurs, while the latter is rather rare because it requires intellectual skills and psychological or philosophical knowledge that few possess. We could call conscious self-government “meta-self-government,” meaning self-government that is self-aware.
In the remainder of this chapter, by “self-government” we shall mean conscious government that has the“I” as its subject and the “ me” as its object, and that is exercised on the basis of information that the “ me ” sends to the“I” and of which the “me” may be more or less aware.
Conscious self and self-government
The most important and highest activity of the conscious self is self-government, that is, governing, at the highest organizational level, the organism of which it is a part. However, the conscious self cannot exist or operate autonomously since its life and operations are totally dependent on that of the organism it is called upon to govern. Indeed, there are good reasons to believe that the conscious self is born with the organism and dies with it. In other words, I would say that it emerged phylogenetically in the organism in order to intelligently direct its high-level behavior, and it has reason and cause to exist only to the extent that it is able to perform that function effectively. That is to say, the conscious self is at the service of the organism, and not vice versa, although the conscious self is able to command some parts of the organism to which it belongs, namely the voluntary muscles.
Since an individual’s needs and desires can be, indeed are normally, conflicting, an important task of the conscious self, and purpose of self-government, is to reconcile conflicting motivations, that is, to find compromise solutions so that, as far as possible, sooner or later, all needs are satisfied. In this sense, self-government also involves deciding which needs and desires to indulge and which to frustrate, and until when.
By governing himself through the conscious self, an individual can, within certain limits and to a certain extent, also govern other people and the environment around him. Therefore, in order to govern the outside world (including others) as effectively as possible, one must be able to govern oneself effectively.
Why, when and how much to self-govern?
Self-government serves to better meet one’s own and others’ needs by overcoming the limits imposed by the unconscious on the conscious self and unveiling its self-deceptions and removals.
Before self-government, it is appropriate to ask oneself whether it is good to do so. The question makes sense in that self-government is exhausting, sometimes unpleasant, and in any case not without risk. It is strenuous because it involves resisting the tendency to behave in habitual ways, unpleasant in that it is difficult and sometimes frustrating, and risky in that it leads us to behave in unaccustomed, hence potentially dangerous, ways, especially with regard to our social relationships. For we do not know how our self-controlled behavior might be perceived and judged by others (e.g., as an oddity, a threat, an indication of mental disorder, etc.).
Self-government therefore pays off only if and as long as it offers benefits that can offset the drawbacks described above. The main advantages of self-government can be summarized as follows:
- replacing automatisms that have proven unproductive or counterproductive, with others that are more satisfactory for one’s own and others’ needs;
- avoid errors of perception, self-deceptions and illusions that can lead us to make wrong decisions;
- deal with problems more effectively and intelligently;
- know one’s needs better through analyzing one’s feelings, and meet them in more purposeful ways;
- counteracting self-censorship and unwarranted guilt.
When in doubt about whether to self-govern or not, it is therefore good to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of doing so and not doing so at any given time. I mean to say that self-government is a good thing if done at the right time, otherwise it may be counterproductive. It is therefore a question of when is the right time to do it, and for how long.
In any case, self-government cannot be practiced for too long as it is a source of emotional stress and mental fatigue, especially for those who are not used to it. Excessive self-government could in fact cause mental distress of longer or shorter duration (of this I have personal experience). Therefore, as part of self-government itself, it is necessary to understand when it is appropriate to start it and when to suspend it. It is therefore also a matter of recognizing a particular type of “self-government” stress by distinguishing it from other types of stress.
Practicing self-government requires sufficient free time, a quiet place where one can reflect undisturbed, and the ability to write. In fact, it is very difficult to self-govern in the presence of other people, distractions or intense stimuli.
Self-government procedure, interactions
Doing something (anything) is equivalent to interacting with something and/or someone. Therefore, self-government must always be focused on interactions between the subject and the rest of the world, or between the self and the unconscious.
In the interaction between two or more entities, each transaction may have certain properties such as the following:
- Causes, necessity
- Randomness
- Intentions, purposes
- Contexts, roles, rules, languages, forms
- Meanings, messages
- Energies, masses, information
- Effects, changes produced
- Goals and desires for the sender and receiver
In general, the transaction may constitute a request or the satisfaction (i.e. fulfillment) of a request.
In self-governance, all the above aspects should be considered as far as possible.
To practice self-governance, it is advisable to use lists and questionnaires that suggest what to turn our attention to, what to think about, what questions to ask and what to do. Without such tools, self-government is much more strenuous because it has to rely only on one’s memory, which is manipulated by the unconscious. This, in fact, does not like to be governed by the conscious self and tries to resist its attempts to do so.
The self-government procedure I recommend consists in answering the following questions:
- Preliminary questions
- Are there conditions for practicing self-government? (quiet, privacy, not tired, not anxious, sufficient free time, etc.); if the answer is no, postpone to a more suitable time.
- To satisfy what needs and desires could/would/should I interact? See the chapter Needs, desires, motivations.
- Are these healthy needs, wants, and motivations? If the answer is no, go back to the previous point.
- For what reasons are these needs and desires not already met? What has prevented or is preventing me from doing so? (Identify any conflicts and incompatibilities, antagonistic needs, impossibilities, anxieties, fears, guilt, risks, opposition from someone, incapacities, self-censures, illusions, naiveté, self-deceptions, etc.).
- What mental, cultural, intellectual, material, economic, social, etc. resources can I rely on to fulfill my needs and desires?
- What are my limitations and inabilities that I must take into account in trying to satisfy my needs and desires?
- What drawbacks and risks should I consider in possible interactions?
- Who should I get advice or guidance from?
- What should I change and what should I maintain in my relationships with others and the rest of the world?
- Key questions
- With whom/what might I interact? See list of options.
- What kind of action/interaction could I practice? See list of options.
- In what role? See list of options.
- Concluding question: what interactions have I decided to practice here and now or in the immediate future? With whom/what and in what roles?
The above lists are useful menus for deciding what to do, with whom/what and in what roles. Obviously such a decision can be made without the need for any list, but thanks to them the choice can be more rational and effective, since the lists suggest options that the subject may not have thought of.
Before and during the procedure it may be useful to try to mentally answer the questions contained in the various questionnaires listed on the Questionnaires page. Such questions serve, among other things, to become aware of various issues, to counteract possible resistance and boycotts from the unconscious to the practice of self-government, and to overcome any anxiety that self-government may cause.
Next chapter: Humor.