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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/30460
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/30460
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Consider the Self the axiomatic being.

An axiom, in science, is something we take as self-evidently true. It is axiomatic that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line: It needs no formal proof, if you reflect upon it there is no way anything else could be shorter. It is axiomatic that in geometry a point has zero width or height (or depth): because if it had a width, more points could fit inside it of lesser width, and it wouldn't be a point!

Your axiomatic being consists of your beliefs about the world, yourself, and others that you cannot prove but accept as truth nonetheless, the givens of your personality.

I should think a journey of Self would consist of arriving at a NEW such truth, or changing such a truth, and therefore becoming a different person.

For an example, consider a person that changes from racist to non-racist, or religious to atheist, or capitalist to socialist, or in all those cases: Vice versa. That something challenged one of their axiomatic truths, provided a counter-example that truly mattered to them, and in the process changed who they are at a most fundamental level.

For example, most atheists come to their lack of faith by logic, but there are many other reasons for people to lose all faith in religion and embrace atheism: just imagine the tragedy of children raped by priests, or those kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery. A fundamental belief in God's protection and benevolence is shattered, while atheists recognize there are sick and evil people in the world and that collective human action is the only way to minimize the misery and horror such people create.

A story of a person dealing with tragedy by moving from devout faith to agnosticism to full on atheism and perhaps even an outspoken enemy and prosecutor of the Church would therefore be a story of Self.

Original score: 3