Rubber Hand Illusions Shed New Light on Our Bodily Sense of Self

So we all know that the hard boundary we place between ourselves and the world is somewhat artificial. Sure, on one level you are a separate being, different from any other. You can move your own arm, you probably can’t move my arm. On the other hand, your life is a product of an incredibly complex enmeshment of influences that can be traced back l

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suggests that the self and its relation to the world is not merely a mental phenomenon. It has a sensual, embodied, and material dimension, and changes, even subtle ones, to the texture our experience can have profound consequences.

For me, it became crucial to notice what is in fact "illusory" about the self. It's not an illusion in the sense of being a completely useless, even malignant, deception. It's a complex of narratives, judgments, and strategies that developed to help me maintain some relatively reliable social-emotional standing. It served, and serves, a purpose.