The Invention of the Self
Who “I am” appears coherent only because of the monologue we keep repeating, editing, censoring, and embellishing in our heads.
Stephen Batchelor • Buddhism without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening
That’s what it is like to be us. We learn about others from hearing or reading what they say to us, and that’s how we learn about ourselves as well. This is not a new idea, but keeps being rediscovered apparently. The great neurologist John Hughlings Jackson once said, “We speak, not only to tell others what we think, but to tell ourselves what we
... See moreDaniel C Dennett • From Bacteria to Bach and Back
This is not surprising, because the self is the very thing to which these contents seem to refer: not the body or mind per se but the point of view from which both body and mind seem to be “mine” in every present moment.
Sam Harris • Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion
Individual identity is thus truly a dialogue: how a person thinks of himself is the result of learning the language of the community so that he can be a part of the community. It also explains the basic buman need to belong: the idea of the isolated Rousseauesque man of mature, living all by himself and for himself, may be superficially attractive,
... See moreCarl R. Trueman • The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self
Can you actually find a self or is it just a story about a self, a me? The blockage to the investigation is merely a belief in a story of me.