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Ilja's post reminded me of a scene from The Matrix. It happens when Neo first plugs back in after being "freed" and all of his holes/ ports are gone. Morpheus says "Your appearance is what we call 'residual self-image'. It's the mental projection of your digital self." Now clearly the movie makers used this line as a justification for not slapping on unnecessary makeup on all the actors for the whole movie, not to mention all of the characters would stick out like a sore thumb when inside the real matrix. However, this makes me wonder if a self identity crystallizes at a certain point and no matter what experience later in life, you will always think of yourself in a particular way. If Reeves was able to participate in some digital environment would he have thought of himself as paraplegic or able bodied? It seems strange to me that a conception of the self is not constantly updated. People experience new inputs everyday all with some effect upon the "I". 

Despite having new inputs daily, a person becomes his or her own reference point. I think this is how we know ourselves from others. This would mean to me that something does crystalize in our minds to make us, us. Keeping in touch with reality and not movie scenarios, is the loss of the "I- function" associated with depression, or other disorders?