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When are we not ourselves?
May 17, 2016 at 8:19 pm
They say we have every cell in our body replaced every 7 years. Are we the same person then? It's like the ship of Theseus. Replace every component and it's not the same ship.
Since we are not the same person, the old person died and we are simply a copy. Why should we even fear death? We die every day one cell at a time. Every aspect of you today will be dead in a few years and replaced with a copy.
What are your thoughts on this?
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RE: When are we not ourselves?
May 17, 2016 at 8:46 pm
(This post was last modified: May 17, 2016 at 8:47 pm by The Grand Nudger.)
It is interesting, isn't it...because I know that I can't be, in any meaningful sense "the same person" that I was years and years ago - and that's without even taking into account rates of cell replacement.
-and yet, I have this experience of a consistent identity, even through all of that change...which is, itself, shown to be entirely baseless -regardless- of cell replacement. We don't actually remember who we were or what we thought with any sort of broad reliability...so how could I arrive at such an "experience" in the first place?
I think we fudge the math, to make it work, personally. The assumption of persistence and consistence has utility not at all related to it's veracity.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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When are we not ourselves?
May 17, 2016 at 8:53 pm
(This post was last modified: May 17, 2016 at 8:53 pm by KUSA.)
Even if we found a way to live forever we would still die every 7 years. All it would do is allow copies of ourselves to continue indefinitely.
Your copies would eventually turn into something so different than you are today that it would be unrecognizable.
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When are we not ourselves?
May 17, 2016 at 8:57 pm
Why should we even give a fuck if we live? All you do is work to supply a future for a copy of yourself to enjoy.
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When are we not ourselves?
May 17, 2016 at 8:58 pm
If you go to jail for life you will only be there for seven years. After that some poor sap of a copy has to stay there in misery for seven years until another copy comes along.
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When are we not ourselves?
May 17, 2016 at 9:00 pm
I am about to go into my seventh copy. Who the fuck am I?
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RE: When are we not ourselves?
May 17, 2016 at 9:03 pm
Like Roger Waters said when Pink Floyd toured without him.
"A perfect replica".
No God, No fear.
Know God, Know fear.
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RE: When are we not ourselves?
May 17, 2016 at 9:05 pm
There was an interesting Ray Bradbury story that was tangentially related to this idea. If I recall correctly it was about an old husband and wife who are each trying to murder the other (without knowing that the other is trying to do the same) and I think they end up deciding just to forgive each other and murder everyone else instead? Or summat.
How will we know, when the morning comes, we are still human? - 2D
Don't worry, my friend. If this be the end, then so shall it be.
