[RascalPuff]

With the possible exception of porpoises and whales (and perhaps some primates), that we know of, humanity is the only creature that carries the burden of consciousness, otherwise known as - and in the sense of - self awareness, and, thinking about thinking.

Any other animal beholding its own image in a mirror, perceives another animal.

Whereas, the human animal recognizes its own image; plunges through the (Lewis Carroll’s) looking glass - has (metaphorically) imbibed in the fruit of Knowledge, ingested the apple and it’s core...
Has the capacity - and the will - to transcend Nature itself; unhinge Pandora’s box...
Enter the good, bad and oogly...

A cat, rat, dog and bat, etc., are fairly well destined, with some variations, to be what nature programmed them to be.
Not so with homo sapiens...

They - human beings - can be anything.
The blessed and the cursed.
The best and the worst.


Enter the virtuous, the proud, and the profane.
The responsible and the berserked.
The natural, supernatural, and the unnatural.

The vanity and profanity.
The mentality of mortality.
The advantages and disadvantages of only humanly being.

Were a list of the pros and cons written up, regarding the burden of human consciousness, what features - what observations - might appear on that list?

What issues might emerge in a list, essay, or doctoral, based on this titular theme (The Burden of Human Consciousness)?

Best regards,
- RP