[quote_center] “What do you think you are? . . . I don’t think there can be any more fascinating preoccupation than that. Because it’s so mysterious; it’s so elusive. Who am i?” [/quote_center]
This is perhaps one of the most fundamental questions we like to ask ourselves here at Curious Apes:
“Who am I?”
For myself, as a transhumanist who at the most fundamental level see’s himself as a system of 1’s and 0’s interpreting frequencies, I believe my definition likely differs from most. But then again, that is why this question is so fascinating, for I think most feel they have a unique definition of who they are. It is the reason we find ourselves with so many different religions, why we have christians, atheist, buddhist, new-agers, and more; why people within their own respective religions must continually congregate and reread their holy text to ask “what’s it really saying?”
We’re all trying to explore “Who we are?” by following a definition that makes the most sense to us.
This is the question of the soul in many ways. This is the question of consciousness: is it a part of the vessel and thus the result of a biological process, or, is consciousness as an incorporeal and mysterious underlying essence that exist outside the physical?
The question of “Who am I?” is what has led me to where I am today. It is the reason I find transhumanism to be my philosophy in many ways. I see myself as an accumulation of memories, of synapses firing or not ( ie: 1s or 0s, just like a computer). I see myself as processes and routines that run each day by clock cycles called time. If we can copy a snapshot of my mind, of those 1s and 0s, and store it digitally, then reawaken it inside a computer, has anything been lost? If the memories and affinities are there, then am I still me? Why not?
Mental disorders and those afflicted by brain damage are fascinating case studies for this topic. Alzheimer’s especially. In our society, an alzheimer’s sufferer maintains the same SSID, the same nationality and citizenship, and to the outside world, more or less is the “same” person. But how much does the outside world’s validation truly mean when, internally, our Alzheimer’s patient has no memories of who they once were, who they want to be, or the self that arises in the present from the combination of those two things? Is this, then, the definition of self, these two variables? Are we only ourselves if we’re living in a moment where we have two actively calculated variables: memories and desires?
[quote_center]”Are we only ourselves if we’re living in a moment where we have two actively calculated variables: memories and desires? “[/quote_center]
The buddhist would argue these are fruitless parameters, unnecessary to self. And after a year of meditating every day, I can see the value in this position; I’ve lost myself in the pure bliss of empty nowness many times, where all I was was the breath that coursed through me. And when I opened my eyes, free of memories and desire, the world had seemed to take on a divine glow.
But I do not think it’s the utter void of desire, or the complete relinquishing of memories, that gives us the oneness with our only true-self. I think we can be our true self in both situations. I think there is the self that exist as nothing, and the self that exist as those concepts of memories and desire. Who we are can be either. For me, I strive to balance both, to be whichever allows me to be most in harmony with the present, whether that means detaching from my need to be somehow special so I can become a blank slate who can relate to anyone and see the big picture, or if that means accepting the life I want to make myself and the experiences that have led me to I am, without becoming a slave to those concepts.
Ultimately, if we want, we are all be blank slates in every moment, and thus all equal, until we add those memories and desires. So remember, in any moment, you should be able to find common ground with someone else if you’re both simply willing to kill you ego, kill your attachment to your memories and desires. Who are you never needs to be a boundary. But it can always be used to build a connection.