When did your current "you" begin?

[Eddi]

A series of questions for you to ponder:

Are you the same person you were two hours ago?

Are you the same person you were last week?

The same person you were last year?

The same person you were ten years ago?

And how about twenty years ago?

Or thirty?

I think that I am the same person I was last year, a different person to who I was ten years ago, and a completely different person than I was twenty years ago. How I despise the twenty-year-ago me! And thirty years ago I was seven...

Question: When do you think you current "you" began?

For me: I think the person I currently am only dates back to 2016, the last time I was on a psychiatric ward - I think that was the beginning of the era of my life I'm currently in. There's been ups and downs since then and quite a few changes, but overall I am the same person I was when I walked out of that psychiatric ward. I don't know when this current era will end.

Here's something that's relevant to this exercise:

 

[sun rise]

The eternal I never changes. The egoic "I" of this life began when I was born. This lifetime "I" was solidified for this life when I got married and then later when I found my career and spiritual path. Since then this "I" has changed just like a room might be redecorated without changing its essential nature.

 

[Polymath257]

I am not *exactly* the same as I was two minutes ago, but I am also similar in many ways to the person I was 4 decades ago. I have learned and grown (in more ways than one), so I would not respond to many issues as I would decades ago.

How long ago I was 'similar enough to consider myself the same' depends on the issue. Ten minutes ago I was not writing a post for RF, but was considering the weights I was lifting. Forty years ago I was thinking about mathematics, although at a more elementary level than I do now.

 

[Heyo]

The old question of Theseus' Ship.
For me it is the question of when I first thought of me as "I" and continued to do so, about the age of 3 or 4 years.

 

[ChristineM]

We all change all the time, tiny changes over small periods, bigger changes over longer periods. Knowledge, experience, thoughts all change us but you remain the essential you

I am i

 

[Sw. Vandana Jyothi]

Hello again, sun rise, Namaste

The eternal I never changes. The egoic "I" of this life began when I was born.

Both true--if by the 'eternal I' you mean one as eternal soul, which having read your other stuff I think you do.

This lifetime "I" was solidified for this life when I got married and then later when I found my career and spiritual path. Since then this "I" has changed just like a room might be redecorated without changing its essential nature.

Disagree with this, although it might seem merely petty word parsing. Merriam-Webster's first definition of essential is:

1 : of, relating to, or constituting essence : inherent
​

I seriously doubt the egoic "I" ever gets solidified, perhaps only the circumstances surrounding it settle into some kind of relative stasis (marriage, career, etc.). But egoic "I" is neither essence nor inherent. The egoic "I" changes every day, many times a day, buffeted by the winds of thoughts and emotions. It also changes over time as it gets tamed by spiritual practice or conversely, is allowed to run amok in the fields of its desires.

 

[BSM1]

I try to be the person I'm going to be tomorrow. That way there's no surprises..

 

[Brickjectivity]

I'm several people gradually being merged together by the aging process. We're on a timeshare. We fight over who gets to pee.

 

[Twilight Hue]

A series of questions for you to ponder:

Are you the same person you were two hours ago?

Are you the same person you were last week?

The same person you were last year?

The same person you were ten years ago?

And how about twenty years ago?

Or thirty?

I think that I am the same person I was last year, a different person to who I was ten years ago, and a completely different person than I was twenty years ago. How I despise the twenty-year-ago me! And thirty years ago I was seven...

Question: When do you think you current "you" began?

For me: I think the person I currently am only dates back to 2016, the last time I was on a psychiatric ward - I think that was the beginning of the era of my life I'm currently in. There's been ups and downs since then and quite a few changes, but overall I am the same person I was when I walked out of that psychiatric ward. I don't know when this current era will end.

Here's something that's relevant to this exercise:

The interesting thing is the person you were a decade ago is completely dead now.

You technically will have a funeral for yourself every 7- 10 years.

Does your body really replace itself every seven years?

 

[Polymath257]

The old question of Theseus' Ship.
For me it is the question of when I first thought of me as "I" and continued to do so, about the age of 3 or 4 years.

The ship is a bit more extreme of an example, but shows that identity is as much of a social thing as it is a reality.

 

[Nakosis]

A series of questions for you to ponder:

Are you the same person you were two hours ago?

Are you the same person you were last week?

The same person you were last year?

The same person you were ten years ago?

And how about twenty years ago?

Or thirty?

I think that I am the same person I was last year, a different person to who I was ten years ago, and a completely different person than I was twenty years ago. How I despise the twenty-year-ago me! And thirty years ago I was seven...

Question: When do you think you current "you" began?

For me: I think the person I currently am only dates back to 2016, the last time I was on a psychiatric ward - I think that was the beginning of the era of my life I'm currently in. There's been ups and downs since then and quite a few changes, but overall I am the same person I was when I walked out of that psychiatric ward. I don't know when this current era will end.

Here's something that's relevant to this exercise:

As I see it, all of the forces that go into me being me are constantly changing. The idea of a constant self is an illusion created by memories I have when I was someone different.

I sometimes wonder what would happen if I lost all of those memories.

 

[Heyo]

The ship is a bit more extreme of an example,

Is it though? Many cells in our body have a shelf life (but that all get replaced every 7 years is a myth). I.e. "planks and nails" get replaced constantly and those cells who stay have a metabolism so that the molecules within get exchanged. Identity really is a construct or maybe even a very persistent illusion.

 

[Mock Turtle]

I think that many who have not experienced quite severe mental health issues might not appreciate how we can change and feel so different during the course of such. I envy them. I wish my life had been more even. But perhaps one gains more by going through episodes of struggle and/or conflict - if one does pull through and not continually relapse.

What we have in the way of therapies often doesn't mean that this will happen unfortunately, and having been on medication for a number of years decades ago, I'd rather not be there again, and fortunately there doesn't seem a prospect of such happening. My feelings of well-being has probably only been a decade or so but stable enough for me to think that it will last. I hope others have such luck too.

The prospect of deteriorating physical health I can cope with, as long as the mind holds out.

 

[Secret Chief]

Are you the same person you were two hours ago?

No.

Are you the same person you were last week?

No.

The same person you were last year?

No.

The same person you were ten years ago?

No.

And how about twenty years ago?

No.

Or thirty?

No.

The magnitude of the no increases down the list.

When do you think you current "you" began?

Just.

 

[Tambourine]

I only know that I must have died alone, a long, long time ago.

 

[SalixIncendium]

The person changes from moment to moment, but I am eternal and immutable.

 

[Bird123]

A series of questions for you to ponder:

Are you the same person you were two hours ago?

Are you the same person you were last week?

The same person you were last year?

The same person you were ten years ago?

And how about twenty years ago?

Or thirty?

I think that I am the same person I was last year, a different person to who I was ten years ago, and a completely different person than I was twenty years ago. How I despise the twenty-year-ago me! And thirty years ago I was seven...

Question: When do you think you current "you" began?

For me: I think the person I currently am only dates back to 2016, the last time I was on a psychiatric ward - I think that was the beginning of the era of my life I'm currently in. There's been ups and downs since then and quite a few changes, but overall I am the same person I was when I walked out of that psychiatric ward. I don't know when this current era will end.

Here's something that's relevant to this exercise:

I am the same as I have always been. On the other hand, I am learning and growing in knowledge and wisdom from every step I take.