The Boundaries of Self: Part Two

November 5th, 2006 Fred McVittie Posted in Boundary, Evolution, Self |

Setting the boundaries of the self at the limits of the body clearly has an adaptive advantage. To be self-absorbed or self-centered, limiting our identification to the purely somatic, is undoubtedly a good strategy for personal bodily survival in conditions where the body might be under threat. In more comfortable situations however, the drawing of the boundaries of the self rigidly within the limits of the skin may be less useful. There are many times when, for an organism to maximise the survival of its genes, it must identify not solely with its body but with others. In evolutionary history it is likely that organisms which were able to act as if their sense of self extended to their immediate family, i.e. those with whom they shared the most genetic material, were motivated to act in a way which ensured the optimal survival of that genetic material, even if the cost of such action was damage or destruction of that individual organism.