Where are you? You are in your chest. Researchers “asked ten blindfolded adults to use a metal pointer to motion at ‘themselves.’ Most people indicated their upper torso area … ‘the torso is, so to speak, the great continent of the body, relative to which all other body parts are mere peninsulas. Where the torso goes, the body follows.’
... I wonder whether the ego doesn’t just go wherever you are focusing your attention. When I concentrate on my pinky finger, for instance, it seems to contain more ineffable selfhood than the kneecap I am ignoring. Also, do certain qualities of character lead us to affiliate more strongly with different body parts? Would a jock situate his soul in his bicep? Would a smart, geeky teenager identify as a brain? And, also, what exactly do we mean by “self”? I would certainly place my intellect inside my head; when I’m nervous, I can feel it in my stomach; as a white woman, I often benefit from the color of my skin. I am tempted to table this topic of inquiry as far too nebulous to ever invite the application of the scientific method—but, then again, what do “I” know? I’m just a pair of boobs."
-- Katy Waldman
(Image from The Paris Review. Descartes thought the seat of the soul was in the pineal gland. He was so wrong.)
