Understanding anatta via "there are no computer programs" analogy I tried to find an analogy that would help me to understand anatta: Just as we can say "there is no self" (there are just mental aggregates interacting with each other and eventually causing some bodily reactions), we can also say "there are no computer programs" (there are only electrons arranged in different patterns, and they eventually cause some changes in the output devices).

Buddhism claims that anatta is the ultimate truth, and that it is beneficial to know that truth. I wonder if it applies to my analogy, too: can we regard "no computer programs" as the ultimate truth?

I don't see how it could be beneficial for a computer user or a programmer to realise that "there are no computer programs". If we assume that the analogy is correct, there should be no benefit in realising that "there is no self".

I see two points where the above reasoning could be flawed:


It is actually beneficial to realise that "there are no computer programs".
It is not beneficial to realise the above, but there is no analogy between "there are no computer programs" and "there is no self".


Which point is true and why? Or is it something else that is the problem here?

EDIT: There are already quite a few general questions about anatta. Here I hope to get answers that would comment on whether the analogy I presented is relevant to understanding this concept, and relate to the specific questions I asked.
I find it helps to try to relate things back to the core teachings: suffering, the cause of suffering, the extinction of suffering and the way to achieve that.  So the relevant teaching here as I understand it is not "there is no self" but rather "clinging to a false sense of self causes suffering."

On its face, "there is no self" is patently false, much like the claim that there is no computer program.  There's room here to quibble about language, allowing you to see it one way or the other, but that distracts from the real matter at hand.  Suffering is a visceral thing and getting to its root requires delving into the nitty-gritty viscera of this self-delusion.  Otherwise "there is no self" is just a word game.