Why am I me?

[TheDarkestOfAngels]

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.

That's not true at all. We're all thoughtful people, but what answer do you honestly expect anyone to give?
"Why am I here?" is still as much an open question as it has always been since the first person asked that question.
The answers you were given are as legitimate as any legitimate attempt to answer the question.

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.

What answer were you honestly expectig to hear? From anyone?

[Loki_999]

I was the one who said thiest trap. This was not meant to be an insult but a simple observation that the theists tend to start with the idea that they exist and therefore the world somehow rotates around them and they are the cause, not the effect... or at least their sky daddy is the cause who made everything just for them. Its why the whole business about souls exist. The destruction of the body upon death is something even religion can't cover up, so it had to come up with a concept that allowed people to live on after their body's death.

By the way, for a good piss take on this, watch the film, The Invention of Lying.

Anyway, so maybe we missed the point, but then you need to clarify further, what exactly are you seeking an answer to, because the answers people gave as far as I could tell were answers to your questions.

Perhaps the answer you seek is 42... now you just need to figure out the question

As for the "why now" clarification, i think that has already been answered, you are just not seeing it. Why now is because you are the sum of your parts and experiences, nothing more, nothing less. Cause and effect. etc. You as you could would never have existed at any other time in exactly the same way. While the possible variants of people in the world are near infinite, sure, there have been probably many people throughout history who you could pass for in terms of looks, and i'm sure there have been many people with similar mindsets, but only you are you. You are unique in the history of the planet, and there will never be anyone else in the future who is exactly like you. Enjoy this, revel in this, you are a wonderful unique person, and in some ways, you are at the center of the universe, because when you are gone, your universe will end.

[ib.me.ub]

Thats starange, because i'm not religious or a theist either. Im a Naturalistic Pantheist. You should look it up..... You say you didn't ask 'Why am I me', well whats the god damn title of the thread!!!

I don't think you know what your asking, you need to sit some where and have a good hard think about it yourself. Don't ask a heap of questions, then, when you get answers, say no, no, no, you missed the point. Go and have a little think about the meaning of life yourself and determine your own answers.

I can assure you however, everybody has their own thought on the matter.

[ChromodynamicGirl]

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.

Because you're a recursive pattern machine. You're a series of historically related patterns in patterns that refer back and forth to one another. You can easily get rid of this with powerful drugs.
I recommend Manuel DeLanda on the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze and materialism. Best philosophical description of consciousness I have ever seen. Also very nicely materialistic. There are several more in this series on Youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXzc1V2nTKk

[solja247]

We have all been dead. We each have been dead for billions of years.

To die means that one has existed. We have been in a nonexistent phase for billions of years, not dead, just nothing.

I see our existence as nothing more than a taster, a taste of what it is to exist, to look around and wonder. We will have to give it up whether we like it or not. I find the idea interesting that everything we see and understand will one day have no meaning to us. Whether we do good or bad, death is equal to all.

I see this life as a trailer for the next. The next life is going to be so much better.

I will be less poetic and say you are you simply because your brain has been wired to perceive a collection of stimuli that corresponds to your physical body, you feelings and your thoughts as a discrete, highly preferred entity; and this wiring was in place long before evolution added to your brain the additional features that enable you to wonder why this is so, what alternatives are there for you other than being you, what happened before you began, and what will happen after you end.

The longer story might be that once matter has been organized by evolution into system potentially capable of thinking, it was likely advantageous for that system to be able to conceptualize itself as something distinct from everything else. This is because harm to any part of the system harms that system's overall ability to reproduce itself, so a thinking system that includes circuitry which separately conceptualize "self" and "not self" when planning its own actions would enjoy advantages in dealing with the world compared to another thinking system which treats its own left foot just like another rock its right foot could tread on. Hence progress towards circuits that give you your concept of self would be preferred and over time this preference would steer the ancestor of your genes towards organizing circuitry that give you yours sense of self.

I think the famous evolutionary biologist said it well: ‎"It seems to me immensely unlikely that mind is a mere by-product of matter. For if my mental processes are determined wholly by the motions of atoms in my brain I have no reason to suppose that my beliefs are true. They may be sound chemically, but that does not make them sound logically. And hence I have no reason fo...r supposing my brain to be composed of atoms." - J.B.S Haldane

Because of evolution.

You dont know that.

---

Because you're a recursive pattern machine. You're a series of historically related patterns in patterns that refer back and forth to one another. You can easily get rid of this with powerful drugs.

The problem with reductionism it doesnt answer the question; Why are things bloody complicated?
A machine shouldnt question their own existence or anyone's else existence, we should analyse, but we are more complicated than that.

[R-e-n-n-a-t]

Hmmm...
First, my title was unintentionally misleading.
Second, under more consideration, I may have figured it out. Unless I just forgot what my point was?
I guess I was never asking why I'm aware, i was asking more emotional stuff, such as a brain "program" thing. Under further review, it seems more likely that it is still further chemical impulses trying to grasp a sense of self. Now let the thread die please, I think I've got it. Sorry for being annoyed, I was being accidentally theistish.

[jason56]

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.

because you've got that brain, organically.

the same question applies to any living creature.

No animal has ever been found to change brain or perspective.

What you perceive is your only option.

[Violet]

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.

I have a body.

I have a brain.

I have a soul.

I am none of these things, unless I can only described as being what I have.

But even then I've suggested that there is an I that can posses.

[R-e-n-n-a-t]

Really, can a mod lock this thread? I know that it's all chemical impulses.

[Violet]

Really, can a mod lock this thread? I know that it's all chemical impulses.

Knowledge... that is the assumption that one is correct. Yet we are so often wrong.

'Why' is a 'what' question. 'When' is a 'what' question. 'Where' is a what question. All questions are really asking 'what'. I tell you what it is not, for the reason that clearly you own such things as 'brain/body/soul', and especially 'delusion'.

Do you even know what you are asking when you wonder "For what reasons am I me?". I think your question should rather be, "What defines me?". More intriguing still... "Is what I have all that I am?".

A mod could surely lock the thread. But would that really be to the benefit of anyone?

I wonder