An interesting collection of essays and short stories that investigate concepts related to your observation is http://www.amazon.com/The-Minds-Fantasies-Reflect

An interesting collection of essays and short stories that investigate concepts related to your observation is http://www.amazon.com/The-Minds-Fantasies-Reflections-Self/dp/0465030912 http://www.amazon.com/The-Minds-Fantasies-Reflections-Self/d..., which I'm almost finished with. It has a lot of thought-provoking arguments. Edited by Douglas Hofstadter and Daniel Dennet.