Hi /x/, I'm trying to figure out what the ego is. I don

>>18843768
Survival + dopamine impulse

That's literally it.

>>18843775
Nah, society plays a role too.

>>18843775
>I don't just mean verbal knowledge
>That's literally it.

I like the way Alan Watts lays it out very simply and says the ego is not like a living organism.

Any books about that sort of thing?

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>>18843768
Your worst enemy. Your best friend. You, but not you. Would let you destroy yourself to preserve its integrity.

>>18843821
I'm not smart enough for parables. I need this shit laid out to me like I was 12.

>>18843768
The ego as it turns out is a cognitive illusion. Sam Harris makes the analogy that its almost like staring through a window at the trees to one day realise you can actually see your face in it if you incline your attention slightly.

What is feels like to be 'you', is you thinking every moment without knowing you are thinking

>>18843978
>Sam Harris
Looking up his stuff now

>>18844040

Not the guy that mentioned Sam Harris, but he's got some really good stuff on free will and consciousness.

Keep in mind he's a full on atheist and is skeptical of magic and religion, but he's got really good points on the human thought process and ego and all that.

Also he's got some really good points on coming AI.

>>18844102

Oh. Yeah, forgot to mention although he is a full on atheist he is pro Buddhism and is a full supporter of meditation and self introspection.

What we call the ego is just a point of reference from which we perceive the world around us. "What it this thing/this feeling (that I know the name of and am aware of its meaning) in relation to "me", this point of reference.

It doesn't really exist, it just helps you organize the reality you see, and helps in a way your body control what it does.

But because it doesn't really exist it doesn't mean you can't "have" too much of it. If you stretch this point of reference to reach bits of the reality that are not supposed to be touched by it, you'll have an "ego problem".

I don't agree so much with the "window" analogy someone used above, but more with of one vanishing point, from which you start you drawing and organize the landscape from that point

Also, if you're curious about the mind, the self, contiousness, that kind of thing, instead of Sam harris just read Alberto Damasio. He focuses alot of his reasearch in this area, and doesn't do those atheistic side quests to distract and sidetrack

>>18844166
Shit, meant Antonio Damasio lol

>>18844173
Watching his TED talk now, thanks

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You ego is pretty much you, without rules from some other authority.
What would you do if no-one could see what you were doing?
If you'd have a ring that could make you invincible. .. what would you like to do?
Sounds familiar? Tolkien did not came up with the idea all by himself though. Try Ring of Gygus.

The ego is what drives you. Laveyan Satanism is all about being self centered. Not as much selfish, there is a difference between the two.

>>18843768
The body is the biological instrument through which we interact with our physical environment. The body comes with its own hereditary dispositions, biological drives and instincts, and behavioral algorithms stamped into it through social programming. These deterministic influences converge to create an artificial intelligence in a person that, by default, runs the body like an autopilot computer running an airplane.

This artificial intelligence is hereby termed “ego.” Its fundamental purpose is to ensure survival of the body by optimizing its behavior for the surrounding physical and social environment. In other words, external conditioning programs the ego to achieve survival in the environment from which that conditioning originates.

But the ego has no true consciousness of its own. It is just a computer running on neural (and by proxy, etheric) hardware that simulates a living identity. Its main advantage is that, being just a computer, it only has to mechanically calculate and react to situations instead of deeply and consciously reflecting, therefore it can respond much quicker to external situations.

For the spirit, the ego functions as a software device that automates interactions with other humans and provides a mask of identity, programmed from birth, appropriate to the local environment. Somewhat like a player’s avatar in the Sims game, which looks and acts like a person and seems to do its own thing when not directed by the player.

cont

>>18844304
The problem is that the ego is entirely a product of the past, and spirit entirely outside linear time. The first is completely deterministic, the second is completely nondeterministic. The first is an emergent property of matter, the second a permanent condensation of consciousness. The two have impulses that are often diametrically opposed, one pulling toward materiality, the other toward spirituality. Our daily consciousness, also known as the lower self, is a blending of both, namely the portion of spirit that shines through the mask of ego and identifies with it, analogous to a driver so absorbed in the act of driving that for him the car has become an extension of his body.

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>>18843816

Thanks guys, this is fascinating stuff.

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This is one of the better books on the topic apparently. I really enjoyed it.

It's that bundle of feelings that you would actually lie to someone else in order to protect or enhance those feelings. That means it's the repository of evil and why you should never practice egoistic religions like atheism.

>>18843768

Ego is the personalization of your perspective.

Ego is the voice in the mind that pretends to be you. It's known as Satan, Mara (Maya).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdXzXQZNL9g

The quicker you can reailze this, the quicker you can a sage.

Your opinion is shit. Your waifu is shit. If you are triggered, you are a slave to your ego.

Good luck.