From an evolutionary point of view, self-consciousness is a very late product and cannot be expected to make us understand ourselves. Consciousness is like the water lilies in a pond: we see the flowers, but not how they are nourished by long stems from the dark dune.
Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche writes: “This ridiculous overestimation and misjudgment of consciousness has the great advantage of preventing it from developing too rapidly. Because man has already believed himself to be in possession of consciousness, he has not taken much trouble to acquire it—and this is still the case today.” Nietzsche was quick to point out the limitations of reason, and experimental science has come to reaffirm his insights into the limited ability of humans to see themselves.
Perhaps natural selection has added illusory mirrors to our ability to reflect on ourselves so that we are not too disappointed by the gaps in our........