Sometimes we say we know someone but not as a friend or acquaintance.

If we know about something, it means that we have researched the source and have proof that whatever we know is true.

What I don't like it's when someone tells me "I know you better than you know yourself". This is How in tarnation can you know me better than I know myself, you jack'n'ape. I get real When people say that. Grrrrrrrrr

Well, I think that could be said, but perhaps on a limited scale.  We all have blind spots where we don't see something ourselves, but it may be very obvious to others.

For example, I know several women who were molested at a young age, who have shared that with me at one point or another, and I helped them get through what they had to deal with as adults.  They all have similar behavioral traits, that while not always obvious to them, have become obvious to me.  They often do not see or know why they act a certain way in certain circumstances.  Part of them healing is for them to see it for themselves.

So, I think that in a limited sense, it is possible to understand someone more than they understand themselves, in one particular area.  But you cannot say that you know someone more than they know themselves if you are applying it to the whole person, because that is not possible.

On the other hand, some people say that they know you more than you know yourself, and what they are really saying is that they have already put you in a box and have decided that is what you are.  I think that is what you are pointing to Sandra.

I don't think it's the 'put a person in a box and deciding that's what the person is', Scott. They mean that they know what you're thinking,feeling, what you'll do or say next.

A person can know how you'll react to a certain situation if they'd already seen your reaction to that situation. Example. If someone told me that I was a skinflint and I got real angry, a person seeing my reaction to that comment would automatically how I'd react if the same thing was said to me again. So, maybe that's what people mean when they say "I know you better than you know yourself."

Edited by sandra - 28 Jan 2010 at 3:46am