Are You actually You? (1 Viewer)

[Jon]

We are born, we mature, we grow old, we die. During this process, all of our cells change. If all the cells in your body are different to all the cells you had 10 years ago, are you still You? If your 30-years-ago self were here today, speaking to your 40-year-old self, they would say, "You aren't me!" So You reply to You, saying, "I was!" And You reply back, "Indeed! Was! You are no longer me. So therefore, since you are not me, I've split!"

How many You's are there? Are you still You anymore?

 

[Micron]

There is only one you and it's not defined by your body.
That's my 2 cents.

 

[AccessBlaster]

What if your really in a coma and you're just imagining all this.

 

[Grumm]

If your 30-years-ago self were here today, speaking to your 40-year-old self, then that 40-year-old self is the same yes. He still remembers everything the 30-years-ago has done when they both were 15...
So we just evolve into a beter self. Like a snake changing her skin. All that remains is a hollow empty skin not knowing what we will do tomorrow.

 

[Jon]

What if your really in a coma and you're just imagining all this.

Which me? The 30-year-old me or the 40-year-old me?

 

[Jon]

There is only one you and it's not defined by your body.
That's my 2 cents.

Can you then please point to me so I know where I am?

 

[Micron]

You are not here, so you must be there where you are. Try looking in a mirror. That usually works!

 

[Jon]

But I only see my body and I am not defined by my body. Where am I?

 

[The_Doc_Man]

According to Buckaroo Banzai, "Wherever you go, there you are."

This is the toughest question to consider philosophically because we don't understand the inner workings of the human brain. I believe that Rene Descartes made it clear: "I think, therefore I am." This is as close to a locator function as we are going to get. Look to the brain. Point to that. That is the closest you can point to where you are.

You are the YOU that lives in your brain. That is actually YOU in there. So... are you really you? As long as you brought along your brain, yes you are.

 

[Micron]

Inside it somewhere. When your body dies, you leak out; maybe through your eyes and that's why they get dull at that point. That's not to say you have to have eyes when you die, or even be able to see. It just means they are evidence of something happening at that moment, same as the hairs on your skin tell you that air is wafting by.

Then again, if life after death and a soul/spirit is not part of your belief system, then I guess the change in eyes is evidence of energy dissipating. However, if it is true that energy cannot be created or destroyed, then what happens to the energy in your body when you die? It has to go somewhere, and what form does it take?

 

[Jon]

You are the YOU that lives in your brain. That is actually YOU in there. So... are you really you? As long as you brought along your brain, yes you are.

I think I got it Doc. You say most of you is not You. Only the brain. The rest of you is something else. So, if a lion says he is about to eat You, he is mistaken if he leaves the brain.

 

[Jon]

When your body dies, you leak out; maybe through your eyes and that's why they get dull at that point.

Does that mean if I plug all my orifices, I get to live forever?

 

[The_Doc_Man]

what happens to the energy in your body when you die? It has to go somewhere, and what form does it take?

The potential energy is there for a while, but what really happens is that the organized neural patterns that are you just suddenly randomize. What we are is probably not just a static pattern, but rather is an organized energy pattern.

When your cells die, they can no longer hold whatever pattern they were holding. And those cells die in minutes. The energy goes towards supporting the life within the cells, but if the heart stops beating and doesn't get restarted, the cell energy gets consumed in keeping chemical potential in place. It becomes "waste heat" along the lines of the laws of Thermodynamics. When work is done (to power chemical reactions), the byproduct is heat from exothermic chemical reactions. When nutrition stops flowing because the heart stopped beating, all of that energy just fades to a chemical equilibrium between the entropy and the enthalpy of the cells.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Does that mean if I plug all my orifices, I get to live forever?

No, but it will feel that way until you get to the bathroom.

 

[zeroaccess]

Then again, if life after death and a soul/spirit is not part of your belief system, then I guess the change in eyes is evidence of energy dissipating. However, if it is true that energy cannot be created or destroyed, then what happens to the energy in your body when you die? It has to go somewhere, and what form does it take?

Just ask a crematorium.

 

[Jon]

What about if someone dies, it comes out the eyes, someone seals up the eyes, and then you bring them back to life? Are you then both dead and alive because the stuff can't get back into the eyes?

 

[The_Doc_Man]

I believe we are getting into the realm of fantasy here. However, there IS that poetic reference that says the eyes are the windows of the soul.