(May 19, 2016 at 12:12 pm)quip Wrote:(May 18, 2016 at 9:03 pm)LadyForCamus Wrote: Well, the only rational thing I could come up with is that this sense...or temptation to ask myself, "why am I me and not anyone else" is just a physiological byproduct of existing as a conscious entity. The very nature of consciousness lends its self to a feeling of separateness from the rest of what is going on "out there." (Rob is gearing up to scratch his solipsistic itch [emoji6]). The urge to ask, 'why aren't I experiencing reality from my husband's point of view, or someone else's?' is just a guilty philosophical indulgence. I think the idea that there is a "reason" for it is just an illusion generated by our humanness.
Good response. Is the self itself such a generated illusion? What exactly is the self..is it the body, mind or some odd commingling of both?
Quote:For me, it's very similar in nature to asking, "why is there something rather than nothing?" Being human, I think we have all been tempted by this question at one time or another, but then we remind ourselves that rationality must always rule over the egocentric nature of human yearnings.
Problems persist when we conflate the two though.
Well, I only mean similar in the sense that I think (strictly opinion here) that they are both nonsensical questions to ask. Asking 'why is there something rather than nothing' begs the question; assumes that a state of absolute nothingness was ever an option or a potential.
Similarly, asking 'why am I experiencing existence from this particular body's POV and not someone else's' begs the question in the same way. It's assuming there was a potential for me to be experiencing "me" as someone who is "not me". This is nonsense because...only I can be me.
This topic fries my brain, lol. [emoji13]
Nay_Sayer: “Nothing is impossible if you dream big enough, or in this case, nothing is impossible if you use a barrel of KY Jelly and a miniature horse.”
Wiser words were never spoken.
Wiser words were never spoken.
