99.9% of activities which brain controls are "non-verbal", which means have nothing to do with the prefrontal cortex, Wernicke's areas, etc.
To put it simply, almost everything is non-verbal (doesn't require your self). We grossly overemphasize importance of that You we are obsessed with.
"All boundaries are merely useful fictions." -Buckminster Fuller
How can you possibly know that.
In general I think we are still adjusting to what science tells us about who "we" are.
For example, we know we're animals. As animals, we experience a concept of "self." So why would we assume that no other animals experience a concept of self?
We know that the mind arises from the brain. So why would we make a distinction between our concept of self and the "other" parts of the brain? The title of the above article is essentially clickbait, in my opinion. There is no scientific basis for distinguishing between the brain and the self.
Self comes with language acquisition, which rewires the brain. That's why almost no one remember their baby days, it seems.
Before that language conditioning you are a perfect animal.)
Looking up the wiki article, it seems most animals don't pass the mirror test of self-awareness although few have (such as primates, dolphins, magpies).The mirror-test has been criticized by some as human-centric approach which could give false negatives meaning possibly more animals could be self-aware.
Your connecting of awareness and language is interesting. Do you have any sources to look at (articles, books ,etc)? Quite interesting field really.
Thanks.
I agree that an unqualified sweeping statement - possibly just regurgitated from various religious sources - shouldn't be blindly accepted. That sort of religiously-prescribed attitude also conveniently justifies maltreatment of animals at slaughter, even though research suggests that, e.g. the slitting of an animal's throat causes far greater suffering rather other more modern approaches.
It's literally one of the most fascinating books I've ever read that completely changed my view on a lot of things. I wish there were an updated version based on more recent research.
Here the links to them for those who are interested: ('Where Am I?') http://www.newbanner.com/SecHumSCM/WhereAmI.html ('Self as a Center of Gravity') http://cogprints.org/266/1/selfctr.htm
The first one is a (fictional) story many people here might be interested in so I highly recommend it. If you are still interested read the second which delves deeper into personal identity but without the story.
s/activities/known &/