Two days back, I heard somebody share the idea that "if we saw ourselves walking down the street, we wouldn't recognize that person as being ourselves." My reaction was one of sarcastic eyes and tired frustration. This reaction had no philosophical basis, at least, not one that I had understood at the moment. But the more I thought about it, the more I became advanced in having a clear understanding of why this inference frustrated me.
I am not fond of this idea because it's naive toward the perception of others, the perception that conscious people have of other perceptions; the perception that a person has when they observe the observation that others have of themselves. For example, let's say that I commissioned a talented artist to draw a portrait of me. If I were to compare that portrait to what I see when I look into the mirror, I would think that the two images would be quite similar (in fact, I think they would be very similar). This is a good reason to believe that the perceptions we have of ourselves are accurate.
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