Thanks for the interesting comments. I’ll try to answer concisely.

  1. Defining something as experientially abnormal purely means it deviates from the experiences that most people most often have. When you say we normally see our body ‘from the outside’, I guess you mean that if you look down at your own body you see its externals. But the point is we normally see it from our self-centered perspective behind the eyes. Not from a perspective flying above us or from across the room. That is an abnormal experience that we call an out-of-body experience. Keep in mind I’m talking about abnormal according to our typical experience here, not abnormal according to objective reality (whatever that may be).
  2. I agree with your point about our normal intuitions being that we “have” a body rather than “are” a body. But you’re talking about a more implicit sense of body ownership than I am. When I say we don’t think about body ownership in everyday life, I only mean that we take for granted that our arm or leg belongs to us, almost as though it could never be any other way. I express the point because it can be so surprising when you see the symptoms of disorders like somatoparaphrenia. A reminder that the brain is actively doing things you hadn’t even considered before.

Hope that helps you to better understand my perspective. I appreciate your questions and your time in writing them out so clearly. Enjoy the rest of your week!

    Erman Misirlisoy, PhD

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    Neuroscientist writing about brains, behavior, & health. “Understand more, so that we may fear less” — Marie Curie. Sign up for your brainlift: thinksetlab.com