Sometimes words begin to drain themselves out of my mind, and I wonder if I'm about to lose it,

[dear_life______]

...my self-identityI haven't been around much; busy with the new school year. Readings, exams, assignments, applications...it's consuming so much of my existence. I felt I needed a little break from it all to reflect on my thoughts here, for the very IMPORTANT reason that I don't want my current self to vanish out of my memory(I'll get to that

Comments

[for_solace]

lol. you're so lovely.

"Once you learn to quiet your mind, you'll hear them speaking to you too."

[dimpet]

This is really interesting, and I haven't thought about it enough. Am I the same person as I was 10 or 20 years ago. You could even say, Am I the same person as I was yesterday. Its possible (but maybe improbable) that every day you could be a new person. If someone/thing was to implant all you memories would you know it happened. I guess you would by what other people know about you, unless they also are part of the new consciousness. I think I have read somewhere that consciousness is defined with time, that is what makes people unique. If two people who were exactly the same down to ever atom where to exist at the same time they would not be the same person because over even a tiny amount of time the would grow different. Thats what makes them unique. I think it was a Stephen Hawkings book, can't remember which one though.

[dear_life______]

I think your entire body replaces its tissues and cells every 7 years or something. So you'll have a whole new body in several years, and the body you possessed a 7 years ago no longer exists in you. You might be a completely differnt physical person yearly.

And the consciousness thing reminds me of what Locke wrote in "On Personal Identity." He said something about, what makes a person's identity is the continuity of consciousness.

[dimpet]

Does that include cells from the brain?

But is consciousness continuous? You lose consciousness when you sleep
don't you? Does this mean you are a different person every day? :)

[dear_life______]

Does that include cells from the brain?

I'm not sure, I guess so since it says 'every' cell in your body will replace within 7 years (and >2 years for 98% of your body to replace itself. Why it takes an extra 5 years to replace the remaining 2%...I have no idea). Some quotes I quickly found:

"The skin replaces itself once a month, the stomach lining every five days, the liver every six weeks, and the skeleton every three months. To the naked eye, these organs look the same from moment to moment, but they are always in flux. By the end of this year, 98 percent of the atoms in your body will have been exchanged for new ones" (p. 9).

Our bodies are made up of 100 trillion cells that are constantly degenerating and regenerating. Our entire body replaces itself every 1-7 years, all new muscles, all new organs, skin, skeletal system, etc.

..every cell in your body completely replaces itself every 7 years. 98% in less than 2 years.

But is consciousness continuous? You lose consciousness when you sleep

[dimpet]

On a slightly scarier note. If time is infinite, then any period of time within an infinte amount of time is just an instant. True?

[sallyslicer]

If time is continous, then you can't get "instants".. You should look at that arrow flying through space paradox.

[sallyslicer]

20 is *so* not old. I'm trying to say the same thing about 24...

[crestfallen_xvi]

My journals tell me who I was. I've been keeping a diary since I was in grade school. I don't really know why but maybe it's for that purpose, for reading back and understanding my old self. And, sometimes, I wouldn't grasp the idea that that was me because I'm afraid. For what reasons? I'm not sure.

Do you ever think about writing a letter to yourself in the future?

I've written a few letters to myself. But it's because I just want to understand myself.

[dear_life______]

I think that's the main reason I am hesitant to delete my old journals, even though I loathe the entries I wrote....because, as you said, "for reading back and understanding my old self."