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> You have a body but you're not your body Not only that, but you're you because you're not someone else's body. That sounds tautological but I think it's imp

> You have a body but you're not your body Not only that, but you're you because you're not someone else's body. That sounds tautological but I think it's important. I think a big part of what gives someone consciousness is identity, and what gives us identity, is the idea of us being an island isolotated within our body and therefore distinct from other conciousnesses. Which sounds pointless, but I think it's actually significant if you start to consider the eventual effect of identity on "shared consciousness" via technologically-enabled telepathy, which we may actually see one day in the far future.

meric 10y ago
Perhaps consciousness is shared, only memory isn't, and the distinction is mere an illusion due to distinct memory. Perhaps that's how aiming to be "self-less" is a thing in Buddhism, Sufism, Zen, etc.
- armitron 10y ago
  Makes sense if you think about memory in the same way you think about time, as creations of the mind. I read somewhere once about a story written in a book. The beginning and the end is there, everything superimposed together. For the characters in the book, there is no time. Then the reader's mind/consciousness comes along and goes through the book, page-by-page. By this very act he creates memory and time. Maybe our minds are doing the same thing on an infinite, timeless substrate that Buddhism, Sufism, Zen etc call awareness.
- bbctol 10y ago
  I'd say perception is more relevant to the experience of unique identity than memory; I only see out of my eyes, which makes me feel separate from those around me, even if we'd have lived through all the same experiences.
  - radarsat1 10y ago
    I'm not sure perception and memory are all that different. What are memories except echoes of perception? I actually wonder if memory is not our perceptual signals caught within neural loops that are able to feedback and trigger pattern detection circuits. When this happens for multiple patterns in synchrony, we form associations. Is it right? Who knows.. no idea how even neuroscience can start to answer that..
carapace 10y ago
Dr. Charles Tart's experiment with "mutual hypnosis" had some startling implications. (Search for “Psychedelic Experiences Associated with a Novel Hypnotic Procedure, Mutual Hypnosis.” there's a PDF but I don't want to link to it, as I don't know its provenance. See also http://skepdic.com/tart.html http://skepdic.com/tart.html)

meric 10y ago

Perhaps consciousness is shared, only memory isn't, and the distinction is mere an illusion due to distinct memory. Perhaps that's how aiming to be "self-less" is a thing in Buddhism, Sufism, Zen, etc.

armitron 10y ago
Makes sense if you think about memory in the same way you think about time, as creations of the mind. I read somewhere once about a story written in a book. The beginning and the end is there, everything superimposed together. For the characters in the book, there is no time. Then the reader's mind/consciousness comes along and goes through the book, page-by-page. By this very act he creates memory and time. Maybe our minds are doing the same thing on an infinite, timeless substrate that Buddhism, Sufism, Zen etc call awareness.
bbctol 10y ago
I'd say perception is more relevant to the experience of unique identity than memory; I only see out of my eyes, which makes me feel separate from those around me, even if we'd have lived through all the same experiences.
- radarsat1 10y ago
  I'm not sure perception and memory are all that different. What are memories except echoes of perception? I actually wonder if memory is not our perceptual signals caught within neural loops that are able to feedback and trigger pattern detection circuits. When this happens for multiple patterns in synchrony, we form associations. Is it right? Who knows.. no idea how even neuroscience can start to answer that..

carapace 10y ago

Dr. Charles Tart's experiment with "mutual hypnosis" had some startling implications. (Search for “Psychedelic Experiences Associated with a Novel Hypnotic Procedure, Mutual Hypnosis.” there's a PDF but I don't want to link to it, as I don't know its provenance. See also http://skepdic.com/tart.html http://skepdic.com/tart.html)