Are we the same person

• People generally assume they endure as the same person over time and are distinct from others.
• Dramatic life events, neurodegenerative diseases, or the Buddhist concept of "anatta" (no self) can lead to questioning the nature and reality of the self.
• Evolutionary psychology and neuroscience suggest the self is a construct evolved for survival, not necessarily a reflection of reality.
• The idea that "we are all one" is reported after psychedelic experiences and exists across philosophical traditions.

Philosophical Views on the Self

• Arthur Schopenhauer and the Hinduistic Vedas propose that we are all manifestations of the same underlying phenomenon or universal consciousness.
• Hinduism views the self (Atman) as permanent and identical to a universal consciousness (Brahman), while Buddhism sees the self as an illusion.
• Understanding the shared, universal self is considered beyond rational thought, requiring meditation and spiritual practice.

Contemporary Philosophical Perspectives

• Contemporary Western philosophers are re-evaluating the idea that everyone is the same person.
• The possibilities are: individual selves, no self, or a shared self.
• Person, self and "I" are used as synonyms.

Individual Self View

• Every conscious being is a unique enduring person.
• Traditional view suggests a soul is what makes someone the same person over time and separates them from others, but David Hume argues no such soul is observed introspectively.
• Identifying the self with a physical entity raises the question of what makes something the same brain or body over time, especially considering cell replacement and scenarios like teleporters.
• Identifying with a mental or psychological process ties existence to memories, goals, personality
• Even with amnesia, a sense of continuous self and fear of pain suggests the self is more than just psychological connections.

Problems with the Individual Self View

• Features or connections considered unique can be shared between different people, like DNA in identical twins.
• Thought experiments involving splitting a human being or split-brain cases challenge the notion of a single, indivisible self.
• The idea of the same person being in two places at once arises, approaching the shared self view.
• No single feature or relation can consistently define an individual person and nothing else.

No Self View

• The self, as a continuous entity, doesn't exist.
• Future beings may be continuous with you but not identical to you.
• This undermines egoism, as there is no enduring "you" to be egoistic on behalf of.
• It could decrease concern for one's future.
• This view says all people exist simply in this isolated moment, only to instantly die and be replaced.

Shared Self View

• The same person lives through every life at once.
• Everyone's experiences are ultimately your experiences, but not necessarily consciously aware.
• Analogies include past experiences, forgotten dreams, and the possibility of disconnected experiences in different places.
• Eternal life results as a consequence of the shared self view.
• The shared self suggests that the experiences of every conscious being are yours, but in the same way your unremembered past experiences, such as your forgotten dreams.

Arguments for the Shared Self View

• To defend an individual self, there must be a feature always present in a human lifespan but not shared.
• To support a shared self, there must be something all humans invariably share.
• Conscious experience, with its subjective presence, is a candidate.
• Subjective presence is the luminosity with which experiences appear, universally shared by all beings.
• The "you" is a pure point of view, indistinguishable from others, and built into experiences themselves.

Implications and Compatibility with Science

• The shared self view rests on observation and analysis of subjective experience.
• Compatible with science, which challenges the individual self but not the existence of consciousness or the sameness of subjective presence.
• The shared self clearly supports altruism and universal compassion, as the alternative to egoism.
• By viewing all experiences as your own, there is a strong rational for compassionate, moral behaviour
• Eternal life results as long as any conscious beings exist.