srs bsns
Philosophical reflection following dental work:
Consciousness might be the sentiment of activity, but self-consciousness is the sentiment of a point of coincidence between activity with passivity.
Because I cannot move my face, it seems to be gone. Because when I touch my face I do not feel myself being touched back, it seems not to be mine.
Edit: Also, it's weird what people get used to. I haven't had many cavities, and none up front like these, so I've never had my face frozen like this before. It's left me quite discombobulated, so much that I didn't feel comfortable driving. I did drive though; I realized everyone else regarded this as normal, and so was too embarrassed to suggest otherwise. When I related this to a friend, she laughed at me. I thought to myself "I am just overreacting to the feeling of my face being gone." But as soon as that was put into words, it compelled the reaction: "No wait, that sounds completely wrong. The feeling of your face being gone ought to be rather disconcerting." I'm told to be careful for the next couple hours that I don't chew my lip off. Let's be clear about this: for the next couple hours, my mouth is at risk of eating my face without my knowledge or say-so. And people regard this as unremarkable.
Consciousness might be the sentiment of activity, but self-consciousness is the sentiment of a point of coincidence between activity with passivity.
Because I cannot move my face, it seems to be gone. Because when I touch my face I do not feel myself being touched back, it seems not to be mine.
Edit: Also, it's weird what people get used to. I haven't had many cavities, and none up front like these, so I've never had my face frozen like this before. It's left me quite discombobulated, so much that I didn't feel comfortable driving. I did drive though; I realized everyone else regarded this as normal, and so was too embarrassed to suggest otherwise. When I related this to a friend, she laughed at me. I thought to myself "I am just overreacting to the feeling of my face being gone." But as soon as that was put into words, it compelled the reaction: "No wait, that sounds completely wrong. The feeling of your face being gone ought to be rather disconcerting." I'm told to be careful for the next couple hours that I don't chew my lip off. Let's be clear about this: for the next couple hours, my mouth is at risk of eating my face without my knowledge or say-so. And people regard this as unremarkable.