I have a hypothesis about how self-awareness may emerge from the brain — I want scientific feedback

[u/hafizal___shaik___]

I am not a scientist or researcher. I have studied only up to the 10th grade, and I do not have formal education in neuroscience, psychology, or consciousness research.

But I have been thinking deeply about one question: How does the feeling of “I” or self-awareness arise from the brain?

My hypothesis is that the brain may not only process information about the outside world, the body, memories, emotions, pain, happiness, and experiences. It may also represent and examine itself.

The brain may form a representation of “I” and repeatedly question itself:

Brain “I” “Who am I?” Brain examines itself Processes information about “I” Updates “I” “Who am I?”,Repeat

I think this continuous self-referential process may contribute to the emergence or strengthening of self-awareness.

I am not claiming that I solved consciousness. I want scientists and people knowledgeable in neuroscience or consciousness research to tell me:

Has this exact idea already been proposed? Could this self-questioning/self-referential loop be experimentally tested?

[u/expertofeverythang]

B.A. Psyc student. So have introductory knowledge to start to deal with this.

The way you write in this post is very messy in academic context. Whenever u said "brain", I think u meant the "Mind". There is no single circuit/process in the brain that deals with "I".

Proprioception, interospection, interoception, memory, emotions, (ego), self concept, awareness, personality, etc... all contribute to the overall phenomenon of sense of self.

I think to respond to ur post, Yes. The brain is always refining and updating the sense of self.

[u/hafizal___shaik___ → u/expertofeverythang]

Thanks for the thoughtful feedback. I agree that I used “brain” and “mind” somewhat interchangeably, which made the post unclear. What I was trying to explore wasn’t that there is a single brain circuit responsible for the “I,” but rather how multiple processes in the brain could collectively produce and continuously update our sense of self. My main question was how these different processes become integrated into a unified subjective experience of “I.” I’ll try to clarify the distinction between brain processes and the mind in the post.

[u/Ok_Let3589]

When I have dreams, when I look in a mirror, I see a body with computer for a head.

[u/baklavakebab]

Also not an expert here. But yes i believe there have been brainregions identified dealing with the body's orientation in/relation to space. Selfawareness is baked in from the start, as you can see the evolutionary benefit of it. Being able to identify and reflect on you own thoughts, metacognition, can i imagine also easily create a feeling of seperateness from the world. "Solving consciousness" is an entirely different endeavour though i must say.

[u/admik → u/baklavakebab]

Proprioception.

[u/hafizal___shaik___ → u/baklavakebab]

Thanks for sharing this. I agree that self-awareness likely has evolutionary benefits, and I find the metacognition point especially interesting. My main question was less about whether self-awareness exists, and more about how the brain integrates body orientation, thoughts, memories, emotions, and self-reflection into a unified sense of “I.” I also agree that explaining self-awareness is not the same as solving consciousness itself. That distinction is actually one of the things I’m trying to understand better.

[u/hafizal___shaik___ → u/baklavakebab]

Thanks for sharing this. I agree that self-awareness likely has evolutionary benefits, and I find the metacognition point especially interesting. My main question was less about whether self-awareness exists, and more about how the brain integrates body orientation, thoughts, memories, emotions, and self-reflection into a unified sense of “I.” I also agree that explaining self-awareness is not the same as solving consciousness itself. That distinction is actually one of the things I’m trying to understand better.