I've kept written journals of my life since I was 13 or 14. Unfortunately I
burned the earliest stuff because my mother was going into my room and
reading my private papers.
When I read the stuff I wrote when I was in my early 20's, I'm amazed at
how stable my basic philosophy has been over the years. I'm also amazed at
how my memory of specific events changes over time. In some cases, the
change is due to a new interpretation I give past events as a result of
gaining knowledge I didn't have before. In other cases, I remember certain
moments clearly but separately from the context of daily life in which they
were embedded when they occurred.
I've loved being a whole series of slightly different people, united by this
basic philosophy. I sometimes wonder what it would be like if I could have
all these different "selves"--the little child self, the teenaged self, the
young-adult self, etc. in a room with each other at the same time. I think
they'd like each other. I wonder if anyone has some "selves" that wouldn't
get along well with their other "selves."
Bonnie
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-extropians@extropy.com
[mailto:owner-extropians@extropy.com]On Behalf Of Spudboy100@aol.com
Sent: Sunday, June 11, 2000 6:57 AM
To: extropians@extropy.com
Subject: Re: The Pause that Refreshes
Didn't Vernor Vinge posit the question of identity with his Singularity
analogy; "Does the sperm still exist after it unites with the egg?" Very
Zen-sounding. If the technology works as well as we all hope, to the
capacity we all hope, then keeping a
"veriform appendix" of self , or being that veriform appendix of self is a
great idea. When a person goes through an intense event, such as war, are
they same person? Yes and no is the correct answer. People can change over
time (personality-wise) so it seems to be a healthy objective to check one's
goals and see if we are still moving where we originally felt we needed o
be.
In a message dated 6/10/00 3:07:51 PM Pacific Daylight Time, hal@finney.org
writes:
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