mental projection of your digital self

When you're in the computer program it must be your 'digital self' because you're not 'real' while you're there

Yeah, I imagine normally that is how you would state it but since in this universe, humans are plugged in almost at birth/creation, then it makes sense that their mental self is tied to their digital projection. Thereby that digital projection becomes almost your physical self, since people are plugged in too early in age and don't know anything otherwise. Whatever mental projection they have of how they look like is now tied to their physical = digital self.

Yes, someone messed up somewhere.

Digital Projection = Computer Graphics, Avatar, 3D model, rendered pixels

Mental Self = the image you have of yourself

So, this would be the computer-generated version of your own image. Perfectly logical.

But Mental Projection? Uh.. what? That would be an internal thing, not something others can ever see.

Digital self? Such thing does not exist! No one has a 'digital self', for crying out loud.

So you are absolutely correct, it makes sense only the other way.

absolutely right