The self
 

Alright, I've been wondering about this for a while now, and I wonder if anyone would like to share their thoughts. What I'm wondering is, what makes me me? Who's that voice in my head that I hear my thoughts with? Building on my disbelief in souls and that sort of thing, I think that I'm me only because I'm the only person I could be. I think that my self is determined by the experiences that my body goes through. As nobody else has exactly the same experiences, the way that their thoughts form is different from mine. It's all in the physical structure of the brain. I wouldn't be different, for example, if I was blinded at a young age; I wouldn't be me at all. It would be an entirely different person. Perhaps the idea that we're all just a collection of impulses is a bit distastful for some, but I'd rather be knowledgeable than happy. I'm not sure how that all came out, but I'd like to know what others think.

That's why clones would never be *truly* you. Your body can be virtually the same in all respects but the wrinkles in one's brain, etc. would be different; they aren't determined by genetics. They're determined by experiences.

everything physical can be quanitfied (your physical body), however everything else is qaulitative (ie your mind/beliefs/emotions/sprit/consciousness)
And i agree with papermachesatan that they're determined by your experiences and also the choices you make in life (which come from experience but also make experiences). However, i still think about why i make a certain choice and why i feel something, casue it has to start somewhere, we intially don't always have these experiences to govern what we think about something...like if we're doing something for the first time, how do we make choices with no prior experience? maybe through what has been defined as common sense and rationality by others who've had the experience before and say it is a best practice or something.

oh dude

i wonder how many times i'll swear off this topic and then post.

i think and feel and know. so personally i don't give a fuck.