alt Hacker NewsOh, that's a very interesting hypothesis!
Not sure about taking it down to the level of consciousness, but makes sense regarding the sense of self, the conceptual experiencer, the perceived center of experience. It agrees well with the observation I have made again and again they my sense of self is much stronger when I'm around people, and stronger still when I'm in a context where I don't know people and/or am uncertain in social rules.
This can be as immediate as dancing in a club, and closing my eyes I feel open, free, still, the body just flowing, then opening my eyes and feeling the cage of categorization of the world, relating my self to other people as a major function, coming right back.
Also being alone in nature for me makes the sense of self drop. Without intention, spending even just a few hours alone in a forest seems to quiet down the part modeling my self in relation to the world so much. There's no need for it there. I'm not a person in a forest; I become the trees, the birds, the rustling of the leaves, the sun shining through the canopy.
I agree about the forest part. and your comment was interesting.
I know that the part of the brain responsible for the self thoughts is called the "default mode network". and meditation can reduce it's activity, i.e. the internal monologue stops, but also it can be measured via FMRI.
So i wondered: are the mirror neurons part of the "default mode network"? I asked claude that, he said no, they are two different systems.
So maybe the mirror neurons, those responsible for empathy, "to feel as someone else" are also responsible for becoming the trees, the birds and the rushing of the leaves?