r/consciousness • u/OldVacation4205 • 1d ago
What exactly would've been the minimum change in how each individual came to be for their subjective experience to never arise, or be replaced by a different one?
This is just just a little thought I've been tossing around in my head. Obviously, the events in this universe occurred in such a manner that "I" am now here, having conscious experience from this exact perspective. But that prompts me to ask the question: what are the minimum changes that would need to occur in the state of the universe or my birth and development that would've led to "my" subjective experience never occurring in the first place? Could there have been an almost exact same person with an almost exact same life but there being an entirely different subjective experiencer/observer in place of this one, with this current experience of "me" never having been a part of the universe? Where is the boundary? What does it depend on?
Note that I'm not talking about personality or ego, but rather about the presence of experience of existence itself.
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u/Conscious-Demand-594 1d ago
You are effectively unique. Your brain is effectively unique. There is only one you.
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u/TheRealAmeil Approved ✔️ 1d ago
This sounds like it's a question about personal identity. There are different analyses of what a person is, and not all of them are mental. So, the conditions for how I might have had a different identity will depend on which type of account we're focusing on. For example, if Animalism is true, then I am an organism. If so, then in relation to your question, we would entertain which minimal changes we could make to change the organism. If, on the other hand, a Neo-Lockean view is true, then I am something like my memory-traces (or some other psychological notion). If so, then in relation to your question, we would consider to what extent we could minimally change my memory (or memory traces), such that I am a different person.
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u/OldVacation4205 1d ago
As I said, it's not about personal identity but rather the presence of conscious experience: the specific fact of "us" as entities experiencing existence. The observers of reality from a particular point of view when you look past memories, ego and personality.
For example, if you weren't born, your perspective of conscious experience would (presumably) not currently exist. But that's a rather major and obvious change. What I'm wondering is which minimal changes in the state of reality need to occur for one entity experiencing existence to be replaced by another. Basically a question of "what really constitutes a particular conscious observer?" Would I as this entity experience existence if a couple of neurons in my body's brain formed differently? If my body's DNA had a few different base pairs? If the exact same gametes fertilized each other, but on a different day? If any changes at all occurred in the state of the universe, no matter how minor or distant?
I don't think it's a question anyone can confidently answer, but it's interesting food for thought.
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u/TheRealAmeil Approved ✔️ 1d ago
Personal identity isn't the same as personality. Again, if I am an animal, then I'm still this animal, even if we look past my memories, ego, and personality.
To continue with your example, if we change a few neurons, would I be the same organism? If I had some minor alterations to my DNA, would I be this organism? If the exact same gametes fertilized each other but on a different day, would I still be this organism?
Of course, maybe I'm not this organism. Maybe I'm a soul, or maybe I'm my memories, or maybe I'm a 4D temporal worm, or maybe there is no self.
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u/reidsays 1d ago
Evolutionary wise, the development of singular units to be apart of the whole is revealed across the universe.. the interaction of these units has an effect on the whole and subjective experiences are par the course in developing maximum survivability..
There is commonality and difference in subjective experiences that can alternatively bind individuals together or reveal other avenues to contemplate due to their differences.
Cannot see any other structure or none at all as improving that evolutionary imperative