Sense of self

This very first cheap trick creates the core of all future mental models, a model of ourselves, a self-archetype. The first self-archetype is merely the subset of James’ blooming, buzzing confusion that we classify into our mind’s “I.” It is extraordinarily hard to redraw this boundary later in life.

But this self is never purely ours. It is a composite, a chimeric entity made from our past behaviors and the averaged tendencies of millions of others.

We are not looking at ourselves as we are, but at who we were, mediated by what everyone is .

Summary: "I" versus "Me" philosophical differences

Arthur C. Brooks contrasts "I" (the observing self) with "me" (the self defined by others' perceptions), arguing that most people are "all me and no I," and that cultivating the observing "I" (Atman) lets you live less attached to social comparison and more freely.

Why it matters

• Being dominated by

The Self, as Jung defined it, is a greater entity, which includes the Ego but also incorporates the Personal and Collective Unconscious. Dreams and intuitions come from the Self. The archetypes of the unconscious dwell there. It is, Jung believed, the sphere of the soul.

Colloquially, we often speak of ourselves as if we were split in two: “I couldn’t make myself get out of bed this morning,” “I had to force myself to be calm,” “I had to hold my tongue.”