This argument about a “self model” is a common confusion of self awareness with consciousness. As Paul points out, the existence of a model of self does not magically create the capacity for experience, or “qualia” as the philosophers of mind call it. And vice versa: it’s possible experience can occur in the absence of any notion of self. It’s entirely possible that bees have experience- they see flowers and so on- but no idea of being a self. That’s David Chalmer’s “Hard Problem”. But for some reason that I can never really grasp, the Hard Problem just doesn’t seem like a problem to some people.