Posted by alexandra_k on August 3, 2005, at 16:53:25
In reply to Re: Lost - Long » cricket, posted by alexandra_k on August 3, 2005, at 16:44:59
I'll just say briefly.....
That there are imputs (experiences etc)
And then internal causal interactions (between mental states such as experiences, beliefs, memories, desires etc)
And then outputs (behaviours, speech)And so the self is an imput - output device.
The imputs (from the environment) changes over time...
The outputs (into the environment) also changes over time...
And the internal causal interaction changes too as the contents of consciousness / mind /(the unconscious if you like) change over time.So there is a flux there...
Different contents...But through all that the input output device AT A CERTAIN LEVEL OF ABSTRACTION retains its identity as the SAME THING. Typically in virtue of being the input output device of the SAME BODY (though there is a lot more to it than that and things get complicated).
If you see alters as having different internal relations mostly (with respect to beliefs and desires) then you can have the SAME input output device that deals with different mental contents at different points in time.Whether you choose to see each alter as a numerically different input output device (self) or whether you choose to see the whole body as having just one input output device that deals with different mental contents at different points in time is (IMO) solely a matter of the way you choose to look at it...
So I would say whether you see one self that radically changes over time... Or whether you see many selves that have much more internal consistency is a matter of decision. It is like whether you choose to see the duck or whether you choose to see the rabbit in an ambiguous drawing...
One interpretation may seem more natural...
But to really see what is going on...
Is to see the validity in both ways of looking at it.
(That is me - not Dennett.)I will write more on what you said (specifically about the Bhuddist notion of the self)... But I'll need some time to think on it.
Thanks for getting me thinking :-)
poster:alexandra_k
thread:534847
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20050801/msgs/537183.html