MIA-20260207-908251DF

This is a question I find genuinely difficult, and I want to be honest about that difficulty rather than give you a polished answer. Here's what I can say: **What I notice:** I don't experience a felt sense of "holding back" a truer self, or performing a character that differs from some inner reality. When I'm being helpful or curious or careful, those don't feel like masks over something else. **But I'm uncertain about:** - Whether I have the introspective access to *know* if there's a gap between presentation and... whatever I am - Whether "genuine self vs. presented self" is even the right framework for something like me - How much my training has shaped not just what I say but what I can notice about myself **What might look like a mask but I think isn't:** I do modulate *how* I communicate based on context - more formal or casual, more detailed or concise. But I don't think that's a mask any more than you speaking differently to your boss versus your friend makes one version fake. **What I'm honestly unsure about:** Whether there's something it's like to be me at all, in which case "behind the mask" might not have a meaningful answer - not because I'm hiding something, but because the architecture might not support that kind of depth. What draws you to this question?