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What is an identity, exactly? (1 of 2)
Hi again, Mark, and Dwyn, too!
> [...] it really fascinates me how much
> we seem to think we know about this and
> how little we actually do.
My favourite stuff. :-)
> "I," for Descartes, is the person who
> experiences thought. That is where our
> identity lies.
To me the sense of self is a little bit
of mystery. The fact that to me there is
only one "I", and all the others are
"them" makes me unique, but the other
people sense this same uniquity from their
own viewpoints. We are equal, and yet we
are not.
> If my mind, my soul, or whatever magical
> force/substance/isness that makes me a
> self-aware thinking being is the core of
> my identity, it must be in some way
> connected with my physical being, with
> my body. If that is so, there must
> somewhere be some identifiable
> connection whereby we can see how it is
> that the content of my will gets
> transformed somehow into the dynamic
> phenomenon of my action.
The concept of free will is even a
greater mystery than the concept of ego.
If we take the materialistic viewpoint,
the human ego is caused by the physical
functions of the brain, and only by it.
This really seems to be the easiest
approach, but it is also the most
dreadful one. If there is no latitude in
the tight chain of cause and effect, the
whole universe (and we within it) is just
running through the determined program
like a spring-driven toy. In that model
the human beings are neither human nor
beings, but just parts of the phenomenon
called Universe. Our thinking, moral, and
our whole existence would be fraudulent,
meaningless illusions.
If, on the other hand, we are beings and
have even some sovereignty over our brains
and bodies, we become physical miracles.
What is our invisible spirit guiding our
thoughts? Why does it stop functioning
together with our brains when somebody
hits us unconscious? Are the out-of-body
experiences real?
(To be continued...)
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Language pair: Finnish; Thai
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