Self-Awareness Sucks

Humans are unique as creatures on Earth go. Unlike our animal cousins, we have self-awareness. We know that we exist and can articulate it. We can see and analyze novel events and use reason and cooperation to make plans and get things done. We can rise above our instincts to feed and breed and create new things. However, self-awareness isn’t all its cracked up to be. It has severe downsides, especially when we get into mental health and the horror of understanding the terrible parts of life that animals aren’t conscious enough to know about.