and there was action. At first, actions and perceptions were unrelated. Then it was noticed that when certain actions were taken, it would affect the perceptions. This action here decreased a feeling of pressure; that action there increased it. This action changed the colors; that action changed them back.
A fury of observations began. Which actions could be taken, and how would they affect the perceptions? How could the perceptions be predicted? A valiant attempt at understanding was made... but it was too much to remember, and too much to understand. The perceptions were too numerous and complex.
The perceptions were simplified. Some of them were emphasized; some were discarded. Some were grouped together, and considered only in aggregate. Correlations were found between perceptions. It was noticed that what happened NOW depended on what happened BEFORE. Then, to alleviate the need to remember everything that had ever happened before, notions of "state" were developed, containing a summary of the past events which most affected the current ones...
It was a long process, but it lead to many beautiful concepts, like "space" and "time". Space was an amazing idea - it linked touch, vision, AND sound. With some general rules, such as the knowledge "that what things look like" depends on "where they are", and that sensations are experienced when certain things (like "hands") come near other things, it became possible to remember only some basic information about things' locations instead of remembering all the perceptions and sensations separately.
Sometimes, there were different possible ways of organizing the perceptions. Some worked better than others for making predictions. The ones that worked best were called "true"; the others "false." Perceptions themselves, however, were not the only thing examined. Relationships between past perceptions and past actions were also examined and evaluated. A way of referring to the these past actions was required, and thus the concept of "self" was born.
Some of the most difficult perceptions to organize related to objects which behaved in very complex and unpredictable ways. These objects moved without being touched, made sounds, and moved other objects. One day, it was noticed that the behavior of these objects could best be predicted by imagining that they were "trying" to achieve certain effects. This model, being the best, was called true; the complex objects came to be called "people". Soon, it was noticed that the actions taken by the self seemed very similar to those observed in other people... leading to the idea that perhaps the self was also a person. Sadly, not all was well. With all this learning, there came forgetting. It was forgotten that the "self" had been created to refer to past actions, and it was asked: "Why am I aware of myself?" It was forgotten that the idea of space was created to simplify perceptions, and it was asked: "Is the physical world really there?" It was forgotten that truth was a label for the best model available, and it was asked: "What is true, independent of the physical world?"
Most have now forgotten. The Zen Buddhists remember. The phenomenologists remember somewhat. and you, now, should begin to remember as well...