Paradox of "I"

My comment to Ian' Blog: The Nature of the I

A special thanks for your last post Ian. I may have nothing to add but I have thoughts to share.

We are born as a little bit of protoplasm which has been differentiated from the non-living by the definition of a perimeter. That is not much to start with so things rapidly get more complex. Before separation from the mother, the cells have multiplied and organized. The senses which developed in utero begin connecting the newborn with the exterior world even before birth. The sense of being a separate individual, an “I” develops from not having control of ones comfort. Thus the dualism of the “I” and the “not I” is introduced. All sentient beings share development to this stage.

It might be said that the “I” is the awareness of being separated from the amorphous outside which provides data to the senses.

I ask how this “I” bears the image of God. Perhaps the image we bear is of the paradoxical nature of God. The paradox of the “I” is that although each is unique, yet each develops is the same way from the same material. The uniqueness must come from that original breath of life. All that follows is dénouement.

Blake delighted in exploring the paradoxical. That wisdom can come from folly, or that Eternity should find the limitation of time to be of value, impress on us the differences are reconciled by changing perspective.