Why am I me?

[Rhizomorph13]

I think a better question is, "Why can't I be you?":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MI0a9hTh5AU

[dogma]

You broke down my argument but proposed nothing new. Yes my parents may have shared memories but not from my person perspective. Those are mine alone. When I say that I was in charge of my body you simply state "no you were not". The fact is I am and always will be me with my own unique perspective and thoughts bound to this specific body with no explanation why. You do not know any more then me and to say it is not a mystery you are stating that you never really grasped the question like most people. Most brains are the same why was i assigned to this one and please do not answer, the smartest biologists do not know at the moment. You speak in absolutes as if you were sure that there is no God. We see the effect of dark energy but have never seen it. We use it's effect as evidence that something is pushing the universe outwards. We see gravity in its full force but untill now have failed to find that elusive gravaton particle that makes it happen. The fact I am self aware specific to this time this body, the fact math works at all to me is an effect and can be used as evidence for something more. Stephan Hawkings once said that before the big bang time did not exist so there was no room for God or a cause. He declares there was no cause it just was. Well the fact is something did happen and if there was no time or space for a cause why is there anything at all. Furthermore there may be multiple universe's with ample time and space for anything to exist outside of our realm. I am sorry you never fully understood the question he was asking. You keep referring to experiences and genetics and what parents remember. In reality you were chosen to see the world from your perspective alone right now and nothing in the brain reveals why. Neurons are all generic from brain to brain why one should form you is a mystery just leave it at that.

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Why can't people see the question and accept it's a mystery. Have I declared anything super natural here? I simply pointed out what is but people see my title as a Christian and need to refute something nobody knows. The fact is, if both our brains were on a table surgically no one could discover why you were aware in one while me in another. My body could be here now exactly the way it is according to human evolution but it did not have to be "me" in it. No one really knows what "me" or "you" is. My body could be walking around acting the way it is thinking exactly the way it is but with an awareness that would not be "me". Stab it and me(that is the awareness i possess now) would not feel anything. Some other awareness would. The fact is we share in this universe and to say there is no evidence of supernatural and cousesness then what do you say we are? You are here are you not? you exist and feel and can see the world and can decide what it is you want to think and do. How did that awareness develop from nothing and why is it that only one specific mind brought you here. It's a mystery in itself evidence of something beyond us. There is ample reason to pursue the notion of something greater then ourselves. Weather we are important and live on after this is an entirely different argument. I see ample evidence of a soul in my opinion whoever "me" is something you could never know or feel. A boundary between us that's a mystery. If you say experiences separate us I say to you why? Why were your experiences chosen to be you and mine me.

[philosiver]

I think what OP is saying is that--aside from the fact that we are all products of our genetics and experiences, chemical composition...etc etc..., we are all made of the same thing fundamentally: atoms. If we are all merely chemical reactions and a collection of atoms that behave a certain way to produce conciousness, what makes the atoms in our body different from those in another's? Why do I perceive myself differently than another, even though we are made up fundamentally of the same things? Why was I born as myself and why do I see the world through these eyes, made of atoms that could have belonged to anybody?

[Violet]

I'm me because no other person could take being so silly.

The wiggles aren't just on the surface... no-mes would not be able to cope

[Reforged]

Being conscious individually, as I assume everyone else is, the question comes to mind; why do I exist from a 1st person point of view? Obviously I couldn't exist from a 3rd person POV, but when I die it'll seem to me as if the world ends; MY world will end. How can I explain this... When you sleep without dreaming everything is nonremembered, and seems 'black'. If death is the same, then it'll be lights out for eternity, and therefore I'm wondering why I'm conscious to begin with. Why me? Why here? Why now? Why at all? etc.

Any answers or ideas? I've asked my friends and family, but they don't really grasp the concept of the question.

When you're about to die you sink into blackness and from that blackness emerges a tall, dark figure.
That figure is me. I begin body-popping in a latex outfit repeating the same one minute long routine over and over like a video on loop for what seems like an eternity...
And then you die.

How do I know this? I just put the suggestion into your head that this is what happens and you will be reminded of it when you are on your deathbeds. The more you fight the suggestion the more clearly you picture what I have just described. This is comparable to a child being told in no uncertain terms not to do something, trying desperately not to and inevitably giving into the negative suggestion. I hope you weren't looking forward to your life flashing before your eyes because now, now you're going to get me instead. Is any of what I just put true? It no longer matters, some part of you believes it is and that makes it real to you. :-)

[jonb]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJ9KkgGB4...re=related

Just had to put that clip in

It seem from quite a lot of research the conscious mind does not work out actions, but justifies the actions already taken.
So are you you?
As an Absurdist, I do not know if I think, back to the clip.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJ9KkgGB4...re=related

Just had to put that clip in

It seem from quite a lot of research the conscious mind does not work out actions, but justifies the actions already taken.
So are you, you?
You dismiss too easily the concept of third party control, but as an Absurdist, I do not know if I.

[Colanth]

Being conscious individually, as I assume everyone else is, the question comes to mind; why do I exist from a 1st person point of view? Obviously I couldn't exist from a 3rd person POV, but when I die it'll seem to me as if the world ends

Not exactly. It'll be the same to you as before you were conceived. If you're conscious of something ending, you're not dead.

Why me? Why here? Why now? Why at all? etc.

There are some things we don't know yet. The answer to your question happens to be one of those things. ("We don't know" is a perfectly valid answer.)

[liam]

You are you because you occupy the individual mind, the isolated and independent consciousness of the 'self'. (probably been stated but I thought i'd like to revive this or at least point out my omniscient point of view)

[marksesl]

I am not falling into a theist trap; I understand that I am the result of evolved electrical and chemical signals in my brain. That's not the point. The point more or less, in a dumbed-down version for people below this philosophical point (yes, whoever said "theist trap", you annoyed me) is why now? That's a simpler way of putting it. And don't just answer "because now is now", or "why not". That's also not the point. Of all the people who had lived before, now they are all unaware and dead, obviously. But I am not; I am currently aware, as are you all. I'm not asking "why are people aware?"; I'm asking "How is it me who is aware of myself at this time from a 1st person POV." I'm sure most of you have the ability to grasp this question, you probably just never thought to think of it in the imaginary terms that I now see it.

You can only be yourself.


Yes, it will be.


Because of evolution.


You are one of many.


The conditions are correct.


Our time is now.


?

OK, you definitely missed the point. This question flew right over your head; I'm not religious, I know all of what you said and I understand it. I'm asking something else entirely.
I give up trying to explain; you just have to be able to conceptualize the question yourself I guess. Most of you seem to have missed the point and think I'm asking why I'm me, or why I'm conscious. That's not the point.

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The reason you are alive now is because it's impossible to be dead from a 1st person perspective. You are alive because there is no other state one can be in. Life is an inescapable perennial phenomenon due to the impossibility of existing as nothing. Why you are the specific person you are is either determined by mere chance or some specific cause. Buddhists, contrary to popular belief, do not believe in reincarnation, but that one life just determines the next. Each life is still a new life as a new person. So, the reason you are you could have been determined in such a manner from a previous life. Also, some theoretical physicists feel there is reason to believe that consciousness extends right down to elementary particles. So, perhaps when we die we still have some input as to what new life we will have in that sea of proto-conscious particles. If you reject such ideas, then you must accept who we are is just random chance and leave it at that.

[Comprehender]

Being conscious individually, as I assume everyone else is, the question comes to mind; why do I exist from a 1st person point of view?

The answer to "why" depends on perspective, as does all truth.
Biologically, you are not just you, but trillions of microbs & other lives that are living off of you. They have points of views to, albeit very different from that of the overall "you."

Since you are asking specifically about "1st person point of view" - that implies either mental perspective or spiritual perspective. Neither are clearly answered... Mentally, it depends on whether you are looking at brain activity, or from your own perception from your thinking brain. Spiritually, well - that depends on how you interpret unseen but influential energy.

Obviously I couldn't exist from a 3rd person POV

How do you know that you couldn't?
Some have reason to believe (ie NDEs) that upon death, one is able to see multiple perspectives that one couldn't see in life. IE: In one impression, one could understand past, present & future & related feelings & actions as well as potential.

If you would like to explore more bizarre possibilities, read some of what Leibniz wrote... IE: "Now this interconnection, relationship, or this adaptation of all things to each particular one, and of each one to all the rest, brings it about tha tevery simple substance has relations which express all teh others and that it is consequently a perpetual living mirror of the universe."

, but when I die it'll seem to me as if the world ends; MY world will end. How can I explain this... When you sleep without dreaming everything is nonremembered, and seems 'black'. If death is the same, then it'll be lights out for eternity, and therefore I'm wondering why I'm conscious to begin with. Why me? Why here? Why now? Why at all? etc.

Why would you compare death with sleep - since death is when your brain is no longer working, yet sleep, your brain is still active?

I'm not 100% sure what you are asking, but my guess is that you are wondering what the point in being individually conscious - why of all of the possible consciouses - you are you - & why all of that when it is destined to end?
It is a mystery for each to discover personally.
Yet generally, it can be noted that energy tends to be attracted to certain energy, in a cyclical way.