Recently I watched Kahneman on Lex Fridman’s podcast. One part that caught my attention is where they talk about the Experiencing Self (the self that lives in the moment, having experiences as they occur) and the Remembering Self (evaluates and remembers past experiences).

Most of what happens to the experiencing self is eventually forgotten. The remembering self creates memories that focus on highlights, rather than the events as a whole. The experiencing self lives life, but the remembering self is what we retain and use to make decisions. Our memories, shaped by the remembering self, control our perception of happiness and our decisions.

Beyond these two selves, I have been thinking about what other selves could potentially be. Specifically, The Observing Self caught my attention. Similarly to how the Experiencing Self would experience emotions right away, the Observing Self would focus on observing those emotions within the self, what would be the self’s first reaction, and whether that reaction would make sense.

Expressing emotions is very useful. If the emotion is intentional, for example, we want to punish or reward some behaviour from others, it can be totally fine to express it. But sometimes, especially when expressing is put on auto-pilot, they can often cause harm in our relationships. Observing the self (i.e. counting to 10 before you react) can be useful in those cases.

Can you think of any other Selves?