The notion of self is an interesting one. Without this notion we seem like useless, inconsequential bags of organic matter chemically reacting to keep itself alive. Without self how would there be any way to perceive a difference between you and me besides apparent physical differences? While we may realize to some extent that the notion of self is a constructed one it is oh so hard to let go of what is presented to us daily as fact in our society. Most people don’t care to think about the fact that their perceived notion of themselves is merely a mental construct, a programed notion designed to allow you to function “normally” within society.

An ego is a funny creature because it does not exist beyond perception. You cannot see, smell, touch, lick or fuck an ego. You cannot watch an ego tell a joke or get crushed by a falling piano yet all the same you interact with at least one daily (unless you exist in a higher plane of existence that is but we’ll assume not for the moment). Its a strange thought to think that we interact daily with an entity/entities that do not exist in the way we traditionally think of things existing. The only other comparable thing that we interact with so often is computer data which interestingly enough is becoming more and more similar to the human brain as time goes on.

Something about advanced neural networks allows the collaborative efforts of simple individual systems to create the perception that there is a difference between the neural net and the outside world. Weird right? Where does this group of communicating systems get the guffaw, the arrogance, the ego if you will to say that is any different then the things that it interacts with outside what it defines as itself? And what happens after this system realizes its constructed ego and decides to do something about it?