Ideas worth spreading

573,245 views | Anil Ananthaswamy • TED2022

Where does your sense of self come from? A scientific look

Our memories and bodies give us clues about who we are, but what happens when this guidance shifts? In this mind-bending talk, science writer Anil Ananthaswamy shares how the experiences of "altered selves" -- resulting from schizophrenia, Alzheimer's, foreign limb syndrome or other conditions -- shed light on the constructed nature of identity. He breaks down where our sense of self comes from and invites us to challenge our assumptions about who we are, with the aim of building a better you and a better world.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Our memories and bodies give us clues about who we are, but what happens when this guidance shifts? In this mind-bending talk, science writer Anil Ananthaswamy shares how the experiences of "altered selves" -- resulting from schizophrenia, Alzheimer's, foreign limb syndrome or other conditions -- shed light on the constructed nature of identity. He breaks down where our sense of self comes from and invites us to challenge our assumptions about who we are, with the aim of building a better you and a better world.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

About the speaker

Anil Ananthaswamy

See speaker profile

Anil Ananthaswamy is driven by a curiosity to understand the natural world and our place in it.

Anil Ananthaswamy | Dutton, 2016 | Book

The Man Who Wasn't There: Tales from the Edge of the Self

Ananthaswamy explores a range of conditions that change our perception of ourselves, through extensive interviews with people experiencing their altered selves, their neuropsychologists, neuroscientists and philosophers. He attempts to answer the age-old question: Who am I?

Anil Ananthaswamy | Inquiry@UC Santa Cruz, 2022 | Article

"On the spectrum"

Ananthaswamy talks to Janette Dinishak, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Santa Cruz, about why it’s important to view autistic people as different not deficient.

Thomas Metzinger | Basic Books, 2010 | Book

The Ego Tunnel: The Science of the Mind and the Myth of the Self

In this empirically-grounded book, German philosopher Thomas Metzinger argues that we are completely mistaken in our belief that our self is an entity that exists. It doesn’t.

Anil Seth | Faber, 2021 | Book

Being You: A New Science of Consciousness

An engaging and comprehensive tour of the rocky terrain that is the science and philosophy of consciousness.

V.S. Ramachandran | Harper Collins UK, 2006 | Book

Phantoms in the Brain: Human Nature and the Architecture of the Mind

In this landmark book, V.S. Ramachandran and Sandra Blakeslee explore the neuropsychological condition called phantom limb syndrome and what it tells us about how the brain creates perceptions of our own bodies.

Mark Epstein | Basic Books, 1996 | Book

Thoughts Without A Thinker: Psychotherapy from a Buddhist Perspective

In this book, Epstein brings together the worlds of Western psychotherapy and Buddhist philosophy and practice, using his own experience as a therapist, meditator and patient.

Antonio Damasio | Vintage, 2012 | Book

Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain

In this compelling monograph, Damasio argues that consciousness — the mind with a self — begins with a biological process created by a living organism and is not separate from the body.