In my down time (when I'm feeling outrageously restless or anxious) I've decided I will contemplate the idea of a separate self and here is what I've got so far;
The sensations obviously have no separate self/observer because they are just receiving input from the outside world. Much like a cup of water can receive vibrations if one taps on the cup. Because the water received these vibrations does not indicate in the least that there is an observer.
'Well what about the fact that
we can recognize this vibration? A cup of water can't recognize this vibration, it just receives it. To that I say there are cameras and computers that 'recognize' faces, temperatures, people etc. yet have no separate self. The act of recognizing is just aligning the right elements so as to get the 'right' result. For example; if one were to set up a thermometer underneath a rocking pin that switches on a fan when moved, one gets 'recognition'. The mercury inside the thermometer expands when heat is present, the mercury thermometer will expand at the top, rocking the switch to turn on another switch which completes an electrical circuit to the fan motor which will spin the fan and cool down the area. Recognition? I think not. More like the
Goldberg affect in a more complex configuration.
'What about feelings? I can recognize a good and bad feeling, the fan cannot!' Feelings are based upon a very rudimentary concept; that of evolution and survival. Humans will prefer 'good' feelings, like a warm blanket on a cold night or food in the belly, because it is conducive to our survival.
Thoughts are an easy one. The minds' main job is to react. It is a big reacting organ (of course it can do more than just react, although some do not believe so), that is it's main purpose. So when something comes into contact with a hot pan, let's say, a hand, that hands neurons have specific 'devices' to 'recognize' a hot surface. Much like mercury, the neurons have devices that will expand and if expanded enough (
stimulation threshold) it will complete a circuit that will send electricity to the brain telling it 'these neurons in this location have received this amount of depolarization (the hand is really hot) and a decision should be made to move the hand to a cooler location (get your hand off the hot pan). A reaction/description/summary/thought of what just happened will be made, 'that was hot' and conditioning will occur (most likely).
What about consciousness? This is an object making an impression on a sense organ (ear, eye, nose, mouth, body, mind) and the awareness of that object.
Where, in all of this, is there a separate, observing, in-control, self? I don't see one...