Defining the ‘self’

By Bodhangkur

1. Minimal Philosophical Definition of Self

Self = a bounded, cohering process that maintains its own difference (as identity) from its surround long enough to generate a continuous point of view.

Breakdown:

1. Bounded — There must be a functional border (skin, membrane, identity-criteria, continuity-conditions).

2. Cohering — The internal states must remain sufficiently integrated to count as one rather than many.

3. Process — Not substance, but ongoing activity: metabolism, inference, updating, self-maintenance.

4. Maintains its difference — It must counteract dissolution (entropy).

5. Generates a point of view — There must be integrated information sufficient for a perspective (not necessarily reflective; a worm has a point of view).

6. Continuous-enough — Identity is the persistence of pattern, not of matter.

This is close to modern phenomenology, biology, and systems theory.

2. Definition of Self Under Finn’s Procedure Monism

Under Procedure Monism, self must be defined in terms of iterated emergence, local stability, constraint, and feedback.

Self = the local operational stability of one iteration of the Universal Procedure.

More explicitly:

Self = a transient, rule-bound energy differential that (1) maintains its local coherence, (2) generates a first-person processing centre (“I AM THIS”), and (3) defends that coherence through predictive action in an ocean of randomness.

Component analysis using Finn’s vocabulary:

1. A discrete iteration of the UP
A self is not a soul, spirit, person, or Cartesian ego; it is a token: a once-only execution of the UP’s rule-set.

2. A coherence-maintenance loop
The self is the loop that keeps the emergent intact: digestion, immune repair, proprioception, inference, error correction.

3. A local first-person centre (I AM THIS)
This is the inevitable outcome of any bounded emergent that processes information.
It is not mystical; it is functional: the I is the tag of local processing.

4. A defence of local difference
“2 hates 1”: emergence requires contrast.
A self must guard its distinction—otherwise it dissolves into the undifferentiated.

5. A predictive survival engine
The self minimises error (pain, threat) and maximises fit (stability, actionability).
This aligns identity with adaptive prediction.

6. A transient configuration
The self is extinguished absolutely at disintegration: Off is Off; no continuity, residue, echo, or after-effect.

7. A sovereign local god
Every self is “God in its space”: the totality of its own horizon of processing and action.

3. Ultra-Minimal Definition

Self = the stability of one local procedure.

Or slightly expanded:

Self = a bounded pattern that says “I AM THIS” while it holds.

4. The absolute barest statement (no metaphysics, no psychology):

Self = a coherent boundary that processes.

Self cognition

Self = Identity = Atta

Identity as Atta

Reframing Ramana Maharshi’s goal

The Maharshi’s unverified self

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