Primitive people look at fire and see it as a thing in itself. We know, however, that what we call fire is actually a chemical reaction in which oxygen reduces carbon, yielding water and energy which we perceive as light and heat (with both being photons of different wavelengths). By analogy, most people still think of "self" as primitive people think of fire; when we stop thinking in this way we stop chasing chimera and can instead spend our time investigating the ways in which the human brain creates transient illusions of consistency so that we can continue to cope with environmental challenges while no longer being able to function purely on an unconscious instinctual basis.