Ego isn’t so much a “thing” as it is a project — one that we’re very invested in, and one that is under constant threat  •  the ego is a construct or overlay, which is not that useful  •  however, because it is a construct, it’s also removable  •  ego is a paper tiger: it’s not as harmful or as necessary as it makes out  •  it begins with an initial split between self and others, which is like putting a fence across a vast snowy field  •  this fence divides “me” from “you,” “friend” from “foe”  •  once we identify with one side of the fence, we interpret every experience as either positive, negative, or neutral  •  in turn, we’re drawn towards what is positive, we flee from what is negative, and we ignore what is neutral  •  as we do so, we categorize and label our experiences, making our world more manageable and predictable  •  this process culminates in a subtle fuzzy stream of consciousness, with  a sense of self that clouds over every experience