Most of us believe that we possess a self
- an internal individual who resides inside our bodies making decisions authoring actions & possessing free will. The feeling that a single unified enduring self inhabits the body
- the 'me' inside me
- is compelling & inescapable. This is how we interact as a social animal & judge each other's actions & 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 & 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 & the external world demands that require different selves.