Questions about Self-hood?
From a purely physical perspective, we have also learned recently that we contain a multitude of microbes that live inside and on the surface of our bodies — our so-called “microbiome”. And there are more of those microbial cells than there are human cells, roughly 40 trillion microbial cells to 30 trillion human cells. They outnumber us! Or do they? Are they us? Or, are we them? Does this raise questions about our self-hood? Does each one of these individual microbes have its own selfhood? Are we a vast collection of selves? That would be very complicated.
Our mental and physical health depend upon these microbes as much as the cells that are our own human cells. Studies have shown links between our microbiome and our GI health and depression and anxiety. What if that is just the tip of the iceberg? At least, that is all we understand so far. Does this mean the microbes can affect our mental processes? That is heavy. Does that mean that a bunch of cells that are in our bodies that belong to a different species than us can affect our thoughts and behaviors? What is more our “selves” than our thoughts and behaviors?
What are the philosophical implications of these new findings? Is the self an illusion?