Does consciousness exist along a continuum, beginning in the simplest forms of life, rather than being an event which springs out of nowhere once a certain level of evolution has been achieved?

A neuroscientist comments on the vital role of emotions and feelings, rather than disembodied rationality, in our survival.

What does modern neuroscience have to say about our sense of self? Is there really any permanent, essential self to us at all?

Buddhism, as a religious and/or philosophical enquiry, has been pointing the way towards the casting off of the self for the last 2,500 years.

Am I the intersection of points at which my thoughts and feelings interact with my culture, history, relationships, health, the weather today? This is a unique map, which has never been created before. The map is experienced within the body — the first and most obvious differentiating marker between “I” and “everyone else”.

We are organisms co-existing with our environment, making no sense without it, needing to be aware of what we are actually doing, rather than what we think we are doing — let alone what we think about what we are thinking we are doing.

In this continuing series on sense of self, Sarah Luczaj explores a piece of research comparing the well-being of Japanese and North American students, drawing conclusions about the roles of gratitude and peaceful disengagement.