I’ve been trying to figure out: how do we significantly quiet or alter the voices inside your head, the thought patterns we’ve developed and strengthened over time? And is part of that experience similar to the supposed “ego death”?

The subjective experience of “ego”

The “ego” is supposedly formed around age 5 when the user starts thinking “I”, “me”; and strengthens as the user ages (“I should do this” “I shouldn’t do that”)
“Ego death” is supposedly experienced after sufficient doses of psychedelics, mindfulness, or religion; and the subsequent feeling is “one-ness”
The “ego” is described as the voice(s) inside your head
Jung claims depression is a part of grieving the death of the ego (many claim depression is a natural part of any grieving process)

The subjective experience of depression and anxiety

Depression is characterized by a lack of energy and feeling tired
Anxiety is characterized by patterns of voices (or thoughts) that lead to fear and worry (big, bad ego?)

The relatively objective reality of habits and neural pathways

The brain consumes a lot of energy when taxed (chess grandmasters burn 5,000 calories/day sitting down during tournaments)
Brain activity is just activation of neural pathways, which require energy
Neural pathways that are used more often (call them mental ‘habits’ or patterns), require much less energy to be used, and are preferred pathways (we ‘fall into habits’, it’s a cycle)
Breaking habits and forming new ones requires way more energy than using old habits

The relatively objective reality of the prefrontal cortex (PFC)

The PFC is our most evolved part of the brain, responsible for ‘executive functions’ such as control and strategic thinking
The PFC consumes disproportionately greater energy than other parts of the brain
In conditions that normally invoke anxiety, when the PFC activates more and suppresses the amygdala, people subjectively experience less anxiety
Activities correlated with increased PFC activation and decreased anxiety: mindfulness, sleep

So my thought: is the subjective experience of ‘ego death’ just the development of a new super strong neural pathway (or mental habit) somewhere in the PFC? To develop it required constantly weakening and suppressing old ones; and also intense energy consumption and feelings of depression? And once developed, its just a new neural pathway (or mental habit/muscle) that is extremely efficient at monitoring and suppressing older (ego) ones?

Maybe this ‘ego death’ muscle (or neural pathway) is like a strong “core” muscle group. You might have awkward running, throwing, sitting, or other motor-movement related habits. But most of them may be significantly impacted by a really weak or undeveloped “core.” Once addressed, the other movements start taking care of themselves. Or maybe it’s more like a hand-eye-coordination breakthrough, which if you develop and practice, different “athletic movements” feel easier and look smoother.

What is the biological basis of ego death? And how could we use that information to improve quality of life?

What is the biology of the subjective experience of pain when we become defensive or when we “confront” uncomfortable truths about our selves? What happens biologically when someone says “you’re being mean” or “you’re being aggressive”? When a knife comes toward you, it might lead to injury and pain, or potentially death. So, built by genes aiming to successfully replicate, we evolve to extremely quickly recognize and defend against a knife. The feeling of “fear” activates amygdala pathways. Fear of pain, injury, and death; all of which significantly impact the chances of genetic replication. What about when an insult “you’re being a dick” comes toward? I guess “fear” is one common ingredient. What about the insult is worth being afraid of that impacts our ability to genetically replicate? Maybe some combination of (a) appearing weak or not dominant, (b) the energy expense in changing a learned habit, (c) some other learnèd fear. Idk.

Zhao

Help me figure out: is "ego death" just a…