My House

Originally posted by JS357
Sorry, I edited my other reply and I think that is more responsive to your question. Let me know.

Perhaps another way of saying it: buildings are erected with the expectation of eventual and gradual decay--- an unspoken acknowledgement of inevitable decline.

Could it be that my penchant to swap the parts out precludes it from actually being true to its original form, i.e., a temporary house?

Originally posted by FreakyKBH
For all intents and purposes, however, do we consider the house the same--- despite the various upgrades and changes--- or is there some indelible trait continually missing, continually renewed?

As I said, its a matter of choice. Its not something you can declare the right way to look at it or the wrong way to look at it.

Originally posted by twhitehead
As I said, its a matter of choice. Its not something you can declare the right way to look at it or the wrong way to look at it.

So, assuming the generalities are true--- the human body turns the cells of most of the body over several times prior to expiring--- am I at 50 the same person I was at 17?

What of 'me' was brought forward and what was lost?

Originally posted by FreakyKBH
What of 'me' was brought forward and what was lost?

The unique narrative that your life creates and that only you perceive in full was brought forward, added to, re-evaluated, modified; some details, episodes, thoughts, experiences have almost certainly been lost.

Originally posted by FMF
The unique narrative that your life creates and that only you perceive in full was brought forward, added to, re-evaluated, modified; some details, episodes, thoughts, experiences have almost certainly been lost.

Is it me?
Have I changed--- fundamentally--- from 17 year-old FreakyKBH to 50 year-old FreakyKBH?

Originally posted by FreakyKBH
Is it me?
Have I changed--- fundamentally--- from 17 year-old FreakyKBH to 50 year-old FreakyKBH?

From 17 to 50 your narrative has been added to for 33 years. And it's unique. It's yours. No one else has access to it in the way you do. You are the only continuous witness to it. There are plenty of things that happen over the decades that change you. But it's your narrative and it's always only you who can perceive it in the way you do. This accumulation, I would say, forms the essence of your uniqueness, your personhood. Others might use the words 'soul' or 'spirit'.

Originally posted by FreakyKBH
Is it me?
Have I changed--- fundamentally--- from 17 year-old FreakyKBH to 50 year-old FreakyKBH?

Of course you have changed and acquired different properties over time. The issue is not about change but about numerical identity. What explains the idea that the 17 year-old Freaky is one and the same as the 50 year-old Freaky? Surely, it has to do with chains of psychological connectedness or continuity persisting through time. This site has some background discussion:

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/identity-personal/

Originally posted by LemonJello
Surely, it has to do with chains of psychological connectedness or continuity persisting through time.

This is what I meant by the unique "narrative" we each own and add to as time passes.

Originally posted by LemonJello
Of course you have changed and acquired different properties over time. The issue is not about change but about numerical identity. What explains the idea that the 17 year-old Freaky is one and the same as the 50 year-old Freaky? Surely, it has to do with chains of psychological connectedness or continuity persisting through time. This site has some background discussion:

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/identity-personal/

And what of persistence?

Originally posted by FMF
This is what I meant by the unique "narrative" we each own and add to as time passes.

Yes, and memory has a lot to do with it, as a preserver the sense of sameness (identity) over time. Both for things and people other than ourselves (Who is this person lying next to me in the bed this morning?) and for our own selves (I know I think in English, but what's my name?)

At least that's what I'm telling myself right now. And I am unanimous it this.

What do we make of a person who adopts two identities in some forum of discourse?

Originally posted by JS357
Yes, and memory has a lot to do with it, as a preserver the sense of sameness (identity) over time. Both for things and people other than ourselves (Who is this person lying next to me in the bed this morning?) and for our own selves (I know I think in English, but what's my name?)

At least that's what I'm telling myself right now. And I am unanimous it this.

What do we make of a person who adopts two identities in some forum of discourse?

Memory seems to be the thread which binds us to, um, us.
But that begs the question: what is memory?

Originally posted by JS357
What do we make of a person who adopts two identities in some forum of discourse?

There will forever be a little bit of Nick Bourbaki tucked away somewhere in my narrative. 🙂

Originally posted by FreakyKBH
Memory seems to be the thread which binds us to, um, us.
But that begs the question: what is memory?

Memory is the mental facility that enables us to access and search through all the details that comprise our each and every narrative[with varying degrees of accuracy and success!]

Originally posted by FMF
Memory is the mental facility that enables us to access and search through all the details that comprise our each and every narrative[with varying degrees of accuracy and success!]

Our.
You speak as though there is possession, as though there is personality.

Originally posted by FreakyKBH
Our.
You speak as though there is possession, as though there is personality.

Of course. We each "own" our narratives in so far as they are unique sets of memories and no one else can access them other than what we reveal or claim. People perceive us and our behaviours and that gets incorporated in their narratives. "Personality", I would say, is some combination of how we perceive our own interactions with others, and how others perceive our interactions with them.