The Self Illusion

Most of us believe that we possess a self - an internal individual who resides
inside our bodies, making decisions, authoring actions and possessing free
will. The feeling that a single, unified, enduring self inhabits the body -
the 'me' inside me - is compelling and inescapable. This is how we interact as
a social animal and judge each other's actions and deeds. But that sovereignty
of the self is increasingly under threat from science as our understanding of
the brain advances. Rather than a single entity, the self is really a
constellation of mechanisms and experiences that create the illusion of the
internal you.

We only emerge as a product of those around us as part of the different
storylines we inhabit from the cot to the grave. It is an ever changing
character, created by the brain to provide a coherent interface between the
multitude of internal processes and the external world demands that require
different selves.