My hunch: Consciousness starts as a system modeling the world. Selfhood arrives later, when the model turns inward and begins modeling the modeler. That's when the boundary sharpens: inside vs outside.
The "I" is not the source of awareness - it's the recursive moment when awareness places itself inside the picture.
Consciousness models the world.
Selfhood models the modeler.
Geist begins when modelers model each other.
@lankohr Interesting way to frame it. Id say the "I" isn't the opposite of awareness, it's a structure inside awareness.
The brain builds a self-model so the organism can navigate the world. Useful, but easy to mistake for the WHOLE of consciousness. That was Jung's point as well.
The real confusion begins when the model thinks it is the thing modeling.
In that sense the ego isn't evil or sinful, it's just a map that forgot it was a map. That forgetting is Demiurgic!
@lankohr RAW's "reality tunnel" idea actually fits pretty well with how I think about it. The brain builds models of reality, and the self is one of those models. Different psychologies just explore different ways the tunnel can widen or narrow.
I like Jung, but Miller and Wilson are closer to the neuroscience-meets-experience side of things.
Pretty Gnostic Machine
lankohr