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HumanNoImAlienCat t1_j1140rw wrote

You are a series of continually dying entities.

Assumption(s) made for this concept: There is no soul and the brain creates consciousness.

Based on that assumption, each consciousness must arise somehow from the specific ways in which matter is arranged in the brain. My consciousness is different from your consciousness and I am not you simply because our brains are arranged in different states of consciousness. But if each arrangement of matter in a brain is its own consciousness (assuming it is a consciousness at all), then the You of yesterday is an entirely different consciousness from the You of today as your brains are different. The You of yesterday is not here anymore; thus, it is dead. In fact, this happens every moment as your brain updates and changes every moment. You may see yourself as something continuous, but you only just came into existence and you're about to- oops, you already died, but you don't know it. Instead there's another being conscious in your place which has your memories.

This is not just a metaphorical interpretation; this is a literal interpretation. If death is interpreted as the destruction of consciousness, something that calls itself "you" literally dies every moment and actually there is no true "you", just a constant illusion covered in death.

Thoughts?

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robloxloverboi t1_j12qzkl wrote

A bit busy right now so I can’t share my thoughts, but I love this and completely agree.

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AnyPen4972 t1_j1cblht wrote

I believe all consciousness stems from one entity that is only deviating among us by matter of circumstances. We are all the same being facing separate circumstances. Each of us will experience the life of every conscious being that has ever or will ever exist with no recollection of the previous as long as we occupy the physical realm, until we learn to separate our consciousness from the temptations of material existence

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HumanNoImAlienCat t1_j1ck191 wrote

You mean like in the short story The Egg? What makes you think that?

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AnyPen4972 t1_j1cla40 wrote

It came to me one day and I haven’t been able to find a theory that makes more sense. After looking into it it is a shared belief among many groups throughout history

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HumanNoImAlienCat t1_j1eaw7r wrote

  1. What "makes sense" about it?

  2. Just because many people believe something doesn't make it more true.

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Oh-hey21 t1_j1eii8u wrote

Your #2 makes me think of religion. Truths are very difficult to universally back with belief or faith. At the same time, common grounds are tough to find - sometimes more people also believing is just as powerful as the truth.

Also curious to know what makes sense to the person you're responding to.

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Oh-hey21 t1_j1ehzv9 wrote

I find this interesting for many reasons..

We, people/all life as we know it, seems to be pre-programmed for quite a lot. I can elaborate if needed, but I'd rather leave here if possible.

To slightly build up on the previous: Is it possible that we do happen to carry over some knowledge of the previous? Knowing the bare-minimum, essentially running in autopilot, is extremely beneficial for the success of life, especially at birth/conception.

I want to know, what happens if we no longer have a physical realm? It is believed that life on earth will be impossible one day. We have more unknowns than knowns when it comes to the universe, but all science points to the earth no longer being capable of sustaining life. If we are incapable of escaping the death and destruction, do we also cease to exist in any realm?

I also am curious to know, do you consider all known life to also stem from the same entity?

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Oh-hey21 t1_j1ek6ul wrote

This is somewhat disturbing to think about, the current you will no longer exist... Anyway, feelings aside:

What do you define as the current? Where do you draw the line of this moment and the following? Do you die thousands of times a second, every 5 seconds? Can you put a duration to the current "you"?

Memories are interesting. Coming from a tech background, I like to think of memories as indexed moments of time. Just as databases exist to be efficient in retrieval and storage, memories tend to work very well when they're also associated with something more than the memory itself.

I don't know if I'm doing a good job explaining anything, so please ask whatever that's needed!..

Anyway, building a little more off the memories as an indexes in a database - would you argue that the dying entities include entities that are working to constantly maintain and index these memories? Do they even get stored, or does the next self simply know all of the previous? Does this same self exist subconsciously with everything the body requires to survive (knowing when to breathe, feeding air to the body, nutrients from food, creating blood, basically every biological)?

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