“Never go to bed mad. Stay up and fight.” (Phyllis Diller) Personally, I don’t know how people can sleep after an argument. I know I can’t. I think it has to do with self-awareness. The primary difference between humans and animals is said to be “self-awareness” which is defined as: “conscious knowledge of one’s own character, feelings, motives, and desires.” You older folks may recall the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”. It starts like this: In the jungle, the quiet jungle, the lion sleeps tonight…” This lion clearly has devoured it’s prey and feels no guilt or shame. It’s an animal. It is not self-aware. As for you, YOU are aware of your character, YOU have feelings, YOU are motivated to end this disagreement. YOU desire to sleep. YOU are self-aware and human. Evidently, your partner is not. They are able to sleep. They are animals or sub-human at best. Before you act upon this, think. The phrase, “Let Sleeping Dogs Lie” comes to mind. It stems from Geoffrey Chaucer’s poem “Troilus and Criseyde” published in 1374 and may have been used even earlier in that century in “Proverbia Bulgalia et Latina” where the saying is “Ne Reveillez pas le chien qui dort” which translates to: “Do not wake the dog that sleeps.” That’s good advice when your significant other is sleeping like a lion or a dog. 11/7/23
