Is the Self an "I"llusion?

For centuries, eastern philosophers have taught about the "illusion of the self" that can be recognized and dissolved through meditative practices. As mentioned in my last post, psychedelic users experience a diminished sense of being a self or ‘I’ that is distinct from the rest of the world as well! So is the self really an illusion? According to neuroscientific and philosophy-based empirical research, the answer is yes! In one study, "Self unbound: ego dissolution in psychedelic experience", the researchers propose that the "self" does not exist, instead there is a self-model which plays a role in binding function in cognitive processing. In neuroscience, binding refers to the integration of highly diverse neural information in the forming of one's cohesive experience. This paper discusses the nature of binding and self-binding. The researchers argue that self-binding does not entail the existence of an object / substance to which attributes are bound. However, it does require the representation of an object, "a self model", to which representations of attributes are bound.

To learn more check out: Self unbound: ego dissolution in psychedelic experience