Is your 'self' just a wall built by habit?

Ideas & Philosophy · Published 17 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Philosophers and mystics alike suggest that our everyday identity is merely a shell. By peeling back the layers of ego and instinct, they argue we can access a 'higher consciousness'—a state where the boundaries between the individual self and the rest of existence begin to dissolve.

The concept of higher consciousness spans centuries, evolving from 18th-century German idealism to modern New Age spirituality. Johann Gottlieb Fichte was a pivotal figure who distinguished between the 'finite' empirical ego—our daily personality—and the 'pure' infinite ego. He proposed that this deeper state could be accessed through 'higher intuition.' This philosophical framework is so structurally significant that scholars like Michael Whiteman have noted it mirrors Eastern mystical teachings, despite Fichte having no direct knowledge of them. In the 19th century, Arthur Schopenhauer refined this into the idea of a 'better consciousness.' Unlike other theories that require intellectual development, Schopenhauer described his version as a 'flash of insight' that exists beyond all reason and experience. He envisioned it as a state where personality, causality, and the distinction between subject and object simply vanish. Similarly, theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher contrasted 'lower self-consciousness'—the animalistic drives of hunger and pain—with a higher form characterized by a sense of dependency on an infinite 'other.' Modern perspectives vary wildly in their mechanics. Some view it as a cognitive milestone: Gerald Edelman defines 'secondary consciousness' as the ability to be conscious of being conscious, requiring linguistic mastery and symbolic systems. Others see it as a spiritual evolution; Ken Wilber describes a spectrum moving from ordinary awareness toward 'transpersonal consciousness.' From psychedelic-induced transcendence to the esoteric 'higher self' of Theosophy, the core pursuit remains the same: transcending the limitations of the individual ego to reach a more fundamental reality.

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