There are a lot of bad countries to be born into, I mean just look up the countries with the top number of births.
Also, reincarnation might not be limited to humans… lots of factory farm animals out there for you to be reincarnated as… 👀
Honestly its one of the reasons I wanna live this life as long as I can, I wanna delay being in Afganistan, or North Korea, or a mouse that gets killed by the housecat, or being a damn cockroach.
You aren’t your brain, your brain and body are completely apart from you and don’t care what you’d like. If you were your brain you could stop beating your heart at will, stop digesting, stop or start functions that you are in control of. You’re not in control of anything; not even what you are seeing. Just your perspective and what you make of those experiences. Also, the change in behavior is also mostly up to your body and brain; not you. If you’re hungry, your judgement is clouded and skews towards the negative, not because that is your want.
If I was completely in control of my identity, I could stop being bisexual at will. Not a very compelling argument.
Sorry, where did I say you were?
Actually, you and I are saying the same thing. There isn’t a lot you control about yourself. Did you even read the argument in question?
Your argument - if I understood it correctly - was that I’m not my brain because I’m not in complete control of my brain. But then I’m not in complete control over what most people would agree is part of my identity.
Well, you aren’t. You didn’t chose most things about yourself, you just think you did as to not cause existential crisis. Your favorite foods, your sexuality, what you think is funny, what smells like perfume and what smells like poop; all has very little to do with anything you consciously chose. Most of the things I mentioned are decided before you’re born.
That is true. But it also doesn’t prove that I’m not defined by my brain and memories. I didn’t chose to have most of my memories either.
I agree with you, but the memories you keep at the forefront aren’t your choice either. You tend to remember the negative moments more vividly because your brain is trying to protect you from experiencing it again. A useful tactic in times past, but not so much anymore. I’m not saying you’re not you- you are. There is a you apart from your body and mind, but it is much much less than people would like to realize. It’s more like you’re a ghost in the machine. You think you’re the driver but you’re really just the passenger that gets to say where to stop every so often, but not consistently.
Ah, that is a take I can understand. I can’t say I completely agree, but thanks for clarifying!
Ultimately the difference between our arguments is just vibe-based, I think. I don’t feel like there’s a “ghost in the machine” outside of my brain, but, again, it’s just a personal subjective feeling.
The way I see it, it’s a reason to be kinder to yourself for things you are prone to do, or behaviors you’re not fond of. Maybe you can “train” yourself to be different, but you aren’t who put it there and shouldn’t judge yourself for the person you are.
I’m glad I was able to clear it up! I actually love talking philosophy; so thank you for giving me a chance to do that today.