Aug 26, 2015 01:10 AM
Aug 27, 2015 07:33 PM
Coherence unifies different temporal parts of one's identity, and accordingly subsumes the distinctions between "this moment / self" and "that moment / self" which a sub-level of cognition can make. The latter process itself would be an aggregate of isolated islands incapable of yielding such conclusions if not for the higher identity of consistency that interpenetrates the mess to hang it together.
But on the flip side: Going into and waking-up from a vicarious dream indicates that generic experience might even be more fundamental than coherence, in that the temporary durations of two different people (albeit one virtual) are butted against each other in non sequitur fashion. The only common thread (from an internal POV, anyway) is that the stream of experience continues regardless of which specific personhood content it is centered around. Rational bridging of the two goes out the window.
However, both explorations feature a higher "what am I?" beyond the contingent instances of a person: Either coherence or the phenomenal continuum.
But on the flip side: Going into and waking-up from a vicarious dream indicates that generic experience might even be more fundamental than coherence, in that the temporary durations of two different people (albeit one virtual) are butted against each other in non sequitur fashion. The only common thread (from an internal POV, anyway) is that the stream of experience continues regardless of which specific personhood content it is centered around. Rational bridging of the two goes out the window.
However, both explorations feature a higher "what am I?" beyond the contingent instances of a person: Either coherence or the phenomenal continuum.