Can a Person Without an Ego Have a Strong Sense of Self?

Here’s the thing — asking if you can have a strong sense of self without an ego is like asking if you can have a successful boxing career without arms.

Spoiler: You can’t. The ego is the thing that gives you an identity, right? It’s the mental construct that says, “I’m here, you’re there, and that’s my sandwich.” Without ego, there’s no ‘I’ to claim anything, let alone a sandwich or a sense of self. So, why even entertain this paradox?

Because it’s fun to watch the mind try to wriggle out of its own trap.

Ego: Your Friendly Neighborhood Illusion

First, let’s get one thing clear: the ego isn’t evil.

It’s not some cosmic villain twirling a mustache, plotting your downfall.

It’s more like a badly drawn map — you know, the kind you’d get from a gas station in 1997, with half the roads missing and a Starbucks where there should be a forest.

It tells you where you are, but it’s wildly inaccurate. Most people cling to this map as if it were the terrain itself. They’ve got their little “I” pinned down in the corner, thinking that if they just follow the lines, they’ll find happiness, enlightenment, or at least a Wi-Fi signal. But the thing about maps is that they’re not the…