[BetterLateThan]

>> the myth you are an individual completely separate from the world outside

Aren't you?

You were born alone, you will die alone, nobody can live your life for you, nobody can share the responsibility for your decisions.

You are alone. Everyone else is a script. The only thing that matters is whether your actions make you happy without a hangover. Why would you worry about anyone else's judgments?

(Sick people, who are made happy by abusing neighbors, will always exist, but they are, luckily, not numerous.)

[dominotw]

>> Aren't you?

Yes if you choose to identify yourself with small part of your being called the consciousness.

I don't find that view of self particularly appealing, I prefer to view my ego as part of me as my leg is a part me. You are not the image that you have constructed for yourself shaped by the society you live in. I don't want to identify myself with a tiny portion of thoughts that my mind has, I am not my ego.

[forgottenpass]

Nobody is an island. Human existence is a collaboration, but people do need to do things for themselves. You just described narcissism.