Critique of the mind/body problem: it's not solvable

Re:Critique of the mind/body problem: it's not solvable by IanKerr on Friday February 03, 2023 @07:48PM (#34650029)

I've tried to grapple with questions like this by imagining having woken up with total amnesia. Without any memories or understanding of who I am, or what I've done, I would have absolutely no connection to the person I am today, I would be a stranger to myself. Yet, there's still a sense in which "my" consciousness has persisted, in theory, as "I" would still be seeing through my own eyes.

I'm not sure how to fully reconcile this except to give up and say that full amnesia is as good as having died and "someone else" is now inhabiting my body, but that doesn't seem quite right.

Continuity of experience is part of what seems to make "my" consciousness mine.

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Re:Critique of the mind/body problem: it's not solvable by candiddevmike on Friday February 03, 2023 @08:12PM (#34650200)

You assume that YOU were the one who lived yesterday, when it could very well be some other consciousness that ended when you fell asleep and you're rev $(days_since_birth).

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Re:Critique of the mind/body problem: it's not solvable by pixl97 on Friday February 03, 2023 @08:26PM (#34650325)

I have a feeling that any moment p-zombies are going brought into this conversation.

Doh, I brought p-zombies into this conversation.

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Re:Critique of the mind/body problem: it's not solvable by pksebben on Saturday February 04, 2023 @07:36PM (#34660186)

had to look it up. it's kind of interesting. like someone took solipsism and turned it inside out.

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Re:Critique of the mind/body problem: it's not solvable by tshaddox on Friday February 03, 2023 @09:44PM (#34650855)

Another clearly relevant thought experiment is if your entire consciousness could be duplicated. For a fascinating (and horrifying) take on this: https://qntm.org/mmacevedo

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Re:Critique of the mind/body problem: it's not solvable by pksebben on Saturday February 04, 2023 @07:32PM (#34660157)

thanks for sharing, this was great.

I even tried to click on the "further reading" links at the bottom

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Re:Critique of the mind/body problem: it's not solvable by pksebben on Saturday February 04, 2023 @07:12PM (#34659990)

Isn't there continuity there? you're in the same body, which has to have some bearing on a consciousness.

for example, my knees are shot. part of being me is having to put up with that, which causes a sort of pattern in my experience. were I to get amnesia, those patterns would persist.

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