On Jan 8, 12:38 pm, Bruno Marchal <marc...@ulb.ac.be> wrote: > Welcome RMahoney, > > Nice thought experiments. But they need amnesia (like in going from > you to Cruise). I tend to think like you that it may be the case that > we are the same person (like those who result from a self- > duplication, both refer as being the same person as the original, yet > acknowledge their respective differentiation.
Yes I think I understand what you mean by amnesia, you couldn't carry any rememberance of your old self when changing to Tom Cruise, but you would in the intermediary steps and gradually would lose the concept of your old self that is gradually replaced by Tom's self concept. Thing is, it is very similar to the process happening as we age. I began a journal when I was in my 20's, capturing my thoughts every time I visited this subject in my "mind trips". So when I read a page from that journal today, I sometimes go "wow, I was thinking that, then?" I've obviously acquired a bit of amnesia. Yet I feel like I'm the same person because I've always had this body (although an aging body). What would it be like if everyone had default amnesia such that any thought older than 20 years is erased? So you wouldn't remember your earlier years but you were that person once. I could claim to have originated from Tom Cruise's childhood and it wouldn't make any difference. Just like I don't believe it makes any difference to say why I am I? and not you?, as we are we, simultaneously, and we are they, all those who lived past lives, etc. RMahoney -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To post to this group, send email to everything-l...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en.
