Great essay! And starting it off with one of my favorite Bill Hicks' quotes doesn't hurt ;). The idea that we are the "imagination of ourselves" is powerful, I think, because it is true - its as far as any of us can get logically before we end up making up stories for everything. By understanding the claim that we are the "imagination of ourselves", we see that we have constructed not only us but the world around us - in fact, everything we think we know is wrapped up in this imagined identity, including those things we think we are being so objective about.