“Who Am I?”

by Jayson X

May 14, 2014

Am I a body?

Am I a spirit in a body?

Am I a body and a spirit?

What is a spirit?

If a spirit is the memories and personality of a person,

how can the memories and personality of a person change

when the brain is damaged?

I don’t believe that I am a spirit.

In fact, I don’t believe that spirits exist.

That means that I am a body,

but what part of the body am I?

Am I my hand?

That depends.

I believe that my hand is part of me.

But what would happen if my hand got cut off?

Would it still be part of me?

No.

Am I my heart?

That depends, because my heart can be replaced

and I can keep on living.

In fact, my memories and personality might even remain unchanged.

Am I my brain?

Perhaps a brain can be transplanted,

but unlike a heart,

one’s memories and personality will be transplanted with it.

One’s memories and personality seem fundamental to whom one is,

if one is a human;

and the brain is the thing that stores the memories

and is the personality.

So I am my brain

if nothing else.

But what part of my brain am I?

Am I all of it,

or am I only part of it?

I don’t know.

For the sake of simplicity,

I will say that I am my brain

and every part of my body that is directly connected with it.

My brain is directly connected to my head,

and my head is directly connected to my neck,

and my neck is directly connected to my torso,

and my torso is directly connected to my arm,

and my arm is directly connected to my wrist,

and my wrist is directly connected to my hand.

Thus, my hand is directly connected to my brain

through my wrist, arm, torso, neck, and head.

If my hand is ever completely separated from my wrist by something like air,

it will then be disconnected from my brain.

While my hand is directly connected with my brain,

it is part of me.

If my hand stops being directly connected with my brain,

it stops being part of me.

When I breathe in,

that air becomes a part of me.

When I breathe out,

that air stops being a part of me.

The same is true when I drink water

and eat food.

I am a unique human brain in a unique human body.

That’s who I am.