Personal identity has long been a topic of philosophical discussion and is clearly taking on an increasingly important role in the social sphere. I’m curious how you guys live and understand identity. I’ve thrown in a disparate list of food for thought intuitions that may or may not be useful.
- The minimal set of properties that differentiate me from others.
- An essence, a form, or a soul.
- How I see myself in relation to others. Identity is largely internal but is impacted by how others receive me.
- How others see me. Identity is largely external. What I ‘am’ to others.
- The set of actions I take in the world. The impact I make. The things I create.
- It’s whatever is thinking “me” or “I” at any given moment and there’s no persistent identity over time to unite those instances. It’s fleeting.
Can you elaborate on the last part?
It’s better if you read around on it, you’ll get better information than I can provide from this tiny keyboard on my phone, but the basic principal is that you get into a “float tank” or “isolation tank” or whatever the hippy selling it to you calls it, and you are completely blocked off from the outside world, with no sight, sound, or feeling. In short bursts there is some very weak medical evidence that it can help alleviate certain conditions or “open your mind,” but prolonged exposure, especially for days on end, is basically torture. You have no sense of time inside one. A day can feel like a year. I’ve read first hand reports saying that they will get into it, and they will think they have been in it for hours when it’s been only 15 minutes. You can Google tons of stories and anecdotes about them, but take them with a grain of salt, as they have no real medical backing and are at best fringe medicine akin to chiropracty.