Does a "True Self" Exist?

[Salacious B. Crumb]

Thanks for sharing your story

It's a very interesting question. I've often wondered what I would be like if I was raised in another country, under different values. It seems to me that some people are more easily led, and some tend to question things. When I compare myself to my parents, I see so little in common that I'm amazed I was raised by them, let alone a genetic product of them. So I feel I would have come to vaguely similar conclusions if I was raised differently, but I can't possibly know that for sure. Ruthless indoctrination can probably break anybody.

I would have to conclude that our "real selves" is our DNA. Everything on top of that is the result of environment and experience, I would say.

It’s interesting to think of it from that perspective. I know if we would take that another step further saying our true selves or atoms, quarks, or stardust, then we would practically would be all the same, some folks would have more atoms and some less, and that number would change every day. I’ve heard this argument from theists saying, “If you are only stardust/molecules in motion, then how can you feel love, compassion, etc.?” That drives me nuts, I say, “From a perspective of 500,000x magnification, maybe, but do you see me standing before you, do you see that I’m a person with a beating heart and a brain in my head? I am not just molecules in motion. I have very complex processes happening all over inside my body that allow me to experience this world and interact with you; it has nothing to do with a god.” Of course, they think they win with this argument, but having a brain (along with other complex systems) allows you to feel these emotions.