Is personal identity really just mind?

[Mystic]

An excellent relevant piece about what makes you, you. Pretty long, but interesting if you have the time.

When you say the word “me,” you probably feel pretty clear about what that means. It’s one of the things you’re clearest on in the whole world—something you’ve understood since you were a year old. You might be working on the question, “Who am I?” but what you’re figuring out is the who am part of the question—the I part is obvious. It’s just you. Easy.

But when you stop and actually think about it for a minute—about what “me” really boils down to at its core—things start to get pretty weird. Let’s give it a try:

http://waitbutwhy.com/2014/12/what-makes-you-you.html

This is really good. Thanks.

[bennyboy]

The "bridge" problem is this: if their are 2 unique substances, then how do they interact?

Let's say I have a brain and a mind, and they are unique.  How does the brain let the mind know what's happening, and how does the mind influence the brain?  There needs to be a mediating mechanism:  substance "brainmind."  But what would a bridge between 2 so totally different substances consist of?  The soul?  Nah. . . in what way would that have roots in either the mind OR the body ?

Nope.  The dualist position requires God, He Who Make Possible What Is Impossible.  Now things are easy:

[ignoramus]

God has always been the special ingredient which makes poo digestible.
God = yeast!

Jesus must have been made of self raising flour?

[Catholic_Lady]

An excellent relevant piece about what makes you, you. Pretty long, but interesting if you have the time.




http://waitbutwhy.com/2014/12/what-makes-you-you.html

This is really good. Thanks.

Yeah, its pretty awesome. It's definitely a mind f*ck too. You think of things you hand't thought of before.

[Catholic_Lady]

An excellent relevant piece about what makes you, you. Pretty long, but interesting if you have the time.




http://waitbutwhy.com/2014/12/what-makes-you-you.html

Thanks.  I've enjoyed other articles on that site.  Just scanned it and will read it more closely soon.

Yep, as you well know I'm a fan of Wait But Why. Good stuff! 

[GrandizerII]

That would depend on what one believes constitutes "you".

Which is what I'm trying to find out by asking the question.

Boru

My point is that this is best answered by accepting that the self is a construct, an illusion. You can't theoretically pinpoint what the self is exactly.

[ignoramus]

Would you be comfortable accepting that God is a construct. An illusion?

[GrandizerII]

Would you be comfortable accepting that God is a construct. An illusion?

Sure. I'm an atheist, remember?

[scoobysnack]

I suppose it all comes down to perception or reality and not reality. Hell, I could self identify as a Spanish speaking squirrel with a learning disability, trapped in a white man's body who doesn't speak a word of Spanish, hence the learning disability.

Then we have Bruce Jenner that suddenly defines himself as a woman named Caitlyn. Delusional in my opinion, but to each their own.

There's also an example of a woman that could see, but self identified as a blind person, so her psychologist poured drain cleaner in her eyes to blind her so she could live her life as she felt she identified with. In my opinion she's crazy, and her psychologist should lose their license. What the hell is going on in this world?!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/articl...-ever.html

[CrystalKey]

Hey, I'm new here. For me, I feel/think that "personal identity" is part genetics and partly your own personal journey through life.
From birth we naturally carry genetic traits that we receive from both of our parents. Whether or not  you ever knew your real parents you still receive parts of their personality, mannerism's, facial expression's ect.  But this is only the  beginning. From there you actually collectively "collect" thought's and idea's over time from preschool, t.v. and whomever you associate with. Your base is what you were taught as a child. However, some people change their way's and thought's about certain idea's through the conviction of others. Life itself is a journey. We are drawn to certain idea's or thought's because they either feel reasonable to us or because they bring us some kind of comfort. Everyone wants to know what they are doing here on Earth ,well, as far as I can tell. I spent most of my life searching for answers. Alot of those answer's have been revealed to me after I went through Cancer and my mom passed away also from Cancer.  So those are my thought's.  Anyway,  like I said this is my first post.  I give a lot of thought to the question's in life before assuming anything. Let me know if my answer has helped sort out your thought's in any way?  Ena