Our bodies convey to us that we are separate from each other, and from the world. They draw a line around us, circumscribing the "me" from "everything else." The perception created by this physiological fact is one of isolation, often embedding itself in a need to self-actualize in order to prove to "them" that we can "do it alone." The key to properly contextualizing this perception (which is flawed when observed in isolation) is the concept of "hoda'ah."

Shulhan Arukh Orah Hayim 53:11.