Catching Sight of Yourself

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August 14, 2021

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We don't just passively perceive the world; we actively generate it. The world we experience comes as much from the inside-out as the outside-in, in a process hardly different from that which we casually call hallucination. Indeed, in a way, we're always hallucinating.

- Anil Seth -

Catching Sight of Yourself

"How things seem is not how things are. For most of us, most of the time, it seems as though the self is an enduring and unified entity, an essence, a unique identity: the recipient of wave-upon-wave of perceptions, and decision-maker-in-chief about what to do next. We sense, we think, we act. This is how things seem. How things are is very different. The story emerging from a rich blend of philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience is that the self is not 'that which does the perceiving'. Instead, the self is a perception too. Or rather, it is a collection of related perceptions. Experiences of the world, and of the self, are created by the brain following a common principle -- a principle of 'best guessing', or what we might call 'controlled hallucination'." Neuroscientist Anil Seth shares more in this compelling piece. { read more }

Be The Change

Seth says, "When we agree about our hallucinations, that's what we call reality." How do the above article and this statement land for you? What do they make you curious about? How might you follow up on that curiosity this week?

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