1. Remember the blocks kids play with?
Sometimes they come in bright colors, and sometimes they just have different shapes. Some are larger than others. Yet they are all part of the set of blocks.
2. Think about the pieces on a chessboard.
They serve individual functions, yet they are all chess pieces.
3. Think of individual people within the larger set of humanity, which is within the larger set of
vertebrates, which is within the still larger set of living things.
Even as we recognize this "wheels-within-wheels" view of the world, we need a self-concept in order to survive in the physical world. I need to distinguish between what is mainly inside my mind and what is outside it, and so do you. The paradox of ultimate wholeness and individuality is that both are fundamentally true and real and desirable. We may want to stick to the scientific method of understanding, but we are continually surprised by the world and its workings.
We examine the trees, and are startled to find ourselves deep in the forest.
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