The Ego Tunnel: The Science of the Mind and the Myth of the Self
Details
This month we will be reading:
The Ego Tunnel: The Science of the Mind and the Myth of the Self
by Thomas Metzinger
“There is no such thing as a self. Your ‘self’ is a biological hallucination." - Ready to dissolve into the tunnel?
Quotes
- “Consciousness is the appearance of a world.”
- “You are not a thing — you are a process of self-creation that is also a process of self-annihilation.”
- “The greatest existential danger for our species is our inability to understand our own minds.”
- “Your brain is a reality engine— it evolved not to show you the truth, but to keep you alive.”
About book
- The “self” is a transparent mental model—a simulation your brain runs to navigate life. No CEO in your head, no soul at the core.
- The book explores consciousness in robots, VR, and AI. What happens when machines enter their own ego tunnels?
- If the self is an illusion, what happens to free will, guilt, or moral responsibility?
Discussion topics
- “The Transparency Trap”:
Metzinger says we experience the self-model as reality, not as a construct. How would life change if we could “see through” the illusion?
- “The God Question”:
If consciousness is a tunnel, is there a “light at the end”—or just more tunnel? What does this mean for spirituality?
- “Love in the Tunnel”:
If your loved ones are just “phenomenal self-models” in your tunnel, is connection an act of mutual hallucination?
- “AI Rights”:
If a robot develops a self-model, does it deserve personhood? Should we engineer conscious machines at all?
Connections to previos book:
- Why Buddhism Is True: Compare Metzinger’s “no-self” with Buddhist anatta.
- The Case Against Reality: Both argue perception is a pragmatic interface, but Hoffman focuses on reality, Metzinger on the self.
- Notes from Underground: Dostoevsky’s existential angst meets neuroscience’s ego dissolution.
The Rubber Hand Illusion | Horizon | BBC Studios
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qsmkgi7FgEo
For those not having time to read books, pls find video links below :)
1. The Ego Tunnel: Prof. Dr. Thomas Metzinger at TEDxRheinMain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFjY1fAcESs
17 min quicky
2. Is The Self An Illusion? Minimal Phenomenal Selfhood & Epistemic Agent Model | Thomas Metzinger (2 hours interview)
https://youtu.be/lmcYvayadIE