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Originally Posted by Reverend_Hellh0und  Why are you you and me me? |
To start with, we aren't disticnt.
We are all the universe/reality. Literally, the same "thing".
Some Eastern philsopophies (and religions) teach this as a core fundamental.
Western philosophy usually skips this fundamental fact, and this leaves a void in the average westerners understanding of their place in the universe. That void is often filled by all sorts of religious explanations that take advantage of the confusion.
We differentiate out of usefulness. Not only do we intentionally differentiate, but our minds apparently are hard-wired to differntiate. After all, how would we eat if we couldn't quickly consider food different from our hand? That's why teaching the one-ness of the universe usually requries repetition and meditation, it's hard to break through the natural instinct to consider A and not A, as real things.
On a side note - sensory deprivation is said to be a great stimulus for thinking on that subject. Why does being deprived of input change the brain so drastically? It's becasuse the brain, while convenient to consider distinct, is tied into the environment as much as everything in the universe is. No drugs or hippy stuff, simply isolation.
Though short periods of sensory deprivation can be relaxing, extended deprivation can result in extreme anxiety, hallucinations, bizarre thoughts, depression, and antisocial behavior. Quote:
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how is our concious created and how is it determined that you are you and I am me?
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Creation of consciousness is a frontier humans are hammering at.
It arises from the human mind, and what that minds experience with the environment, including the rest of the body. It is dependant both on the physiology of the brain, and the environment. Deficiencies in either can result in stunted consciousness or complete lack of consciousness. Stroke victims who have damaged brains, often can be rehabilitated, but may in some cases, entirely lose their "former" selves. Are they now a different person? It seems they are, despite sharing the same wiring and chemicals and environment.
The determination is a result of being two different minds. You may ask your parents how they determined to bring you into the world. Although be prepared because their answer may be anticlimactic, or even shocking.
Someone on this forum I think posted a crazy theory about consciouness actually not being the electrical impulses and the cells of the brain, but the EM field that it generates. That was the most far-out theory I've heard, all still grounded in physics mind you, but bizarre.