There’s something very odd about you. You have self-awareness about you, but not self-awareness about anyone else (human or animal). How did that happen? How did you acquire your own sense of self-awareness? You began at conception, so presumably self-awareness was programmed in at that moment yet didn’t eventuate until later. When it comes to the concept of you, there’s a lot of explaining required.
Before we start, just a brief note that for all practical purposes, the terms “you” and “mind”; “self-awareness” and “consciousness”, is all pretty interchangeable and synonymous.
SOME YOU, YOU, YOU TRUISMS
Assuming the Universe was created some 13.7 billion years ago, ‘you’ that will come to pass were in a state of non-existence for that duration – then ‘you’ undergo or underwent a phase transition to existence for roughly 100 years or so, then ‘you’ will undergo another phase transition back to non-existence for another lot of billions maybe trillions of more years. What’s the point? However, think of all those might-have-been self-aware entities that never were and never will come-to-be. These never-ever entities have had and will have a state of non-existence from alpha-to-omega. The question now is might your ever-so-brief phase transition be a positive or negative aspect of your overall alpha-to-omega state of non-existence? I guess only you can answer that philosophical point-of-view. Now you have to admit that there was nothing overly distressing or traumatic about your 13.7 billion year pre-natal non-existence. So, that being the case, there’s unlikely to be anything overly distressing or traumatic about your post-existence non-existence. Rest assured it will be just as peaceful, quiet, stress and tax free.
I give you a state of “non-existence” rather than “no existence” pre-natal and post-death on the grounds that IMHO the fixed and absolute laws, principles and relationships of the newly formed cosmos – physics in other words – was established at the point of the Big Bang event and thus we have a deterministic clockwork Universe (as per Newton and Einstein) and where all subsequent events unfold according to plan (via those absolute laws, principles and relationships).
You had no say in being you. You had no free will in the matter, which is a bit unfair; a bit of a bummer in that you were drafted into being you. You are all alone trapped inside your own mind, from which, excepting death, there is no escape from. So who are you going to sue?
“You” is that which you call yourself “me”, or “myself”, or “I”: indicators of your own self-awareness.
I am to you “the other” and you are to me “the other”. We share lots and lots of traits from basic biochemistry through to organs and organ systems up through basic body shape and structure plus a basic knowledge and understanding of the workings of life, the Universe and everything. We do not share any sense of our own sense of self-awareness. We each have our own unique sense of self. We can’t get inside each other’s head – which is probably a good thing. I have no comprehension what it is like to be you, or be my cat or the bird feeding outside the window at the bird feeder. So be it.
Your brain, and my brain, in fact all normal human brains, share one thing. The brain is the only organ capable of studying itself! Now that’s profound!
WHY ARE YOU UNIQUE?
You are a one-off unique being among all humans who are and who have ever been; among all the animals who are and who have ever been. You are one shot in a trillion – then add in all those eggs and sperm, all those that might-have-been. But what really makes you unique?
What makes you, you? At first glance it would appear to be memory, experiences, knowledge. But you became you at conception at which time you had no memory, no experiences, or knowledge. So, scratch that idea.
Perhaps what makes you, you – your uniqueness – is the unique way your brain, hence your mind, is hardwired; that plus your unique brain chemistry.
Though you are unique, in theory there can only be a finite number of ways of wiring up the brain and the mind it contains. There could in theory have existed or could now exist another duplicate set of your brain wiring – that too must be you but you and that other you would never know (or even probably suspect), or would you, and your alter ego. After all, if there are an identical two of you out there, each should be experiencing what the other is experiencing as well as what they are experiencing. If that doesn’t make your head hurt, nothing will!
But there has to be a connection between you at conception and you of today, be it 1, 10, 25 or 50 (plus) years on down the track. It’s not brain wiring or brain chemistry either since at your conception there was no brain, hence no wiring, and no brain chemistry.
So what does that leave if it is not memories, experiences and knowledge nor hardwiring of your neurons and brain chemistry, etc.?
Aha – What makes you unique is that you are hardwired by your unchangeable DNA (except here your identical twin and/or clone would be you too with the same arguments that should have made your head hurt earlier).
DNA apart, a clone isn’t you. DNA apart, an identical twin isn’t you. Even if I were to use my home chemistry set and recreate your mind – atom by atom; molecule by molecule; neuron by neuron; and house the finished product in some sort of receptacle (brain-in-a-vat), it still wouldn’t be you. You would still be you, separate and apart; as the you that is trapped inside of your own mind.
Yet, there are a finite number of combos of DNA, so again in theory there could have been, or currently is now, another you out there in la-la-land, but again you and that other you would never know (or even probably suspect), but then again, maybe not.
In any event, we can suggest that what makes you unique starts with your DNA at conception, then builds on that by adding hardwires and building your neural network as you grow up, culminating throughout the rest of your life by the accumulation of memories, experiences, and knowledge.
Yet, your body’s, even your brain’s atoms, molecules, entire cells are replaced on an ongoing basis. Why doesn’t that alter who you are or your self-awareness? You were not the same being at age five as you are, were or will be at fifty, yet you are the same. Very mysterious!
What is crystal clear is that self-awareness or mind isn’t something nebulous or intangible. It’s all grounded in matter and energy. You have no self-awareness at conception. It is debatable if you have any self-awareness at birth. You have no self-awareness when you are naturally asleep or when you are artificially put to sleep – say for surgery. Like the surgery example, you can change your own state of self-awareness artificially, legally or illegally. You have no self-awareness in a coma and there are other medical conditions, especially in the elderly, where self-awareness isn’t evident either.
To be continued.
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