What makes us unique? Who are we?
As every living creature, human is also made up by DNA: its combination — that what makes us different. Nothing more. In a layman terms:
CATATG— chicken.
CTAGC — chimpanzee.
GAATCTAT— human.
It’s extremely oversimplified, but that’s exactly how the genetic code works. All of us made by the same material —DNA. But the different sequence of its 4 nucleobases results in different species or individuals. (just like the digital information is stored in 0 and 1, but the different sequence of them makes up the different information). I’m aware that the variation of this combination is unbelievably enormous. But is it finite?
If the potential DNA-variation reserve is limited, then one day it will be depleted. The new born child will repeat the DNA-sequence of somebody lived in the past (maybe that’s what we call reincarnation?).
But does really the DNA information make us unique? Or our memory? Or perhaps soul (whatever it means)? Lets make an experiment:
Imagine while you’re asleep, somebody clones your body (with its scars, marks and etc.). Then he transforms the copy of your neuronal network (with your memory, experiences, skills etc.) into the brain of the new body. Your clone has the same DNA. His memory and experiences are absolutely same. Now your body is replaced by your clone. After that your body might be sent to another planet or even destroyed — it doesn’t matter. The last thing “both of you” remember is: you were going to sleep. At the morning your clone wakes up and doesn’t have any clue about the events that had passed the other night. All what he remembers — he was going to sleep yesterday, just like you used to remember today at morning. So…
Maybe YOU are the clone? Are you the same person as you were yesterday? Will you be the same tomorrow? Why do you care about “your” future if its not yours? What makes “all of you” to be united? Why don’t you enjoy today not worrying about future, if by tomorrow you won’t be existed but rather your clone with your memory? So what really makes us — us?
Actually, the similar experiment has been made by one of my best friends. His idea is about teleporting:
Imagine, we invented teleportation and in order to teleport some object it needs to be decomposed to atoms — sent — then re-assembled to the previous atomic structure. If human would be teleported using this technique — what would happen after teleporting?
Will we be the same person like we were before? The teleported person will have the same body and memory. In fact, for the people around — for your friends, relatives, colleagues it will make absolutely no difference. You will be you. You will still remember them, love them, care about them, because you have the same memory and feelings. But for you yourself you won’t be you anymore. You are already dead and don’t feel anything: you died the moment you were disintegrated, because your brain stopped to function. The reconstructed body is a different person with the copy of your brain. In fact, its the same thing as cloning, but with an extra step: destruction of your ‘original’ body. In programming, it’s like having two objects with the same properties, but with the different ID:
person1 = { id: 121, name: Hasan, age: 25 };person2 = { id: 122, name: Hasan, age: 25 };
Consciousness.
So the question is: what is our ID? What makes us unique?
DNA? — Well, It can be duplicated.
Memory? — I’m sure in the future we will be able to copy it from one brain to another.
Consciousness? — might be. “Cogito, ergo sum.” (this is one of my favorite quotes, if not the favorite).
In different cultures and religions the idea of ID exists in the form of the soul. The soul of every person is unique, even for the clones. The closest thing to “soul” in science is consciousness (IMHO). However, it’s not unique either. Or is it?
I deliberately don’t talk about it, because it’s extremely complex idea and no one really knows what it is. However, we can propose, that it’s a production of our brain and therefore it’s nothing but an electro-chemical process. But considering this, what stops us to claim that objects potentially could have a consciousness too?
For example, while there is a lightning bolt, the lucky symbiosis of electric charges and chemicals could ‘create’ some form of consciousness for a second. Imagine, the “air” or “clouds” obtains a self-awareness and make a reflection about its existence during that second…
Did you know that on Jupiter there are constant storms that never stop. Does it lead to conclusion that the whole planet (at least the surface) could have a consciousness and ability to think?
Anyways…
If we consider consciousness as ID, the next question emerges: is our ID updated every time after sleeping or it stays the same?
In other words: are we still the same person after losing touch with consciousness and then reconnects to it?
In fact, the first experiment with cloning the body & memory and replacing it with “your original body” could happen without the second body. Your same body & memory could be used for the “new person”. Just because you lose your consciousness while sleeping and restore it after waking up — makes you different person with the same body & memory. But it’s not you. You were dead on the first moment of losing the connection with your consciousness. (just like in the experiment with teleporting — you are dead on the first moment of decomposing to atoms and the reconstructed one is not actually you).
In fact, losing the connection with your constantly active consciousness equals to death. If you don’t restore it later — awake — then you are literally dead. But restoring doesn’t resurrect you, rather your replica. It updates your ID, so awaken person is not you. Basically, we can even claim that you are today is different person than you yourself from yesterday. (assuming that you are not a programmer and doesn’t spend your nights coding instead of sleeping :))
Personal experience — that’s what makes us unique!
Perhaps, the subjective reality — that is what makes us unique. Our personal thoughts, feelings and experiences— the chemistry which happens in our brain is unique. We can describe our feelings or share our thoughts, but we can’t share the neuronal process itself. We just share the information about our inner-state, using the words or art, somehow trying to describe them precisely, but it’s impossible to transform the experience per se, because that’s not a static object, but rather the dynamic process between the neurons which is personal for everybody. Even if two of “you” have the same body and memory, both of yours experience will be private and isolated. (from this perspective, consciousness is also a personal experience for every human. So, considering it as ID, perhaps, we were right. Or were we?)
The perception of any sensation is not shared among the bodies. Your experience — that’s what you are and what makes you — you. If you don’t feel or think anything — don’t have any experience — you don’t exist. The only sign of existence and uniqueness — is personal experience.
Objective vs subjective
”What about people in coma or under anesthesia (without dreams)? They don’t experience anything. But they do exist.” — you may object.
Well, they exist for us, not for themselves. They exist objectively, not subjectively. Their personal existence has been stopped the moment they ceased to experience something. So, the reverse of “I think, therefore I am” isn’t always true. You can still exist, even if you don’t think.
In theory, everything around you could be an illusion, but the only thing which you can be sure of is — your personal existence. It can’t be an illusion. Yes, it could be that you are in simulation or even you’re not a human etc. But you exist! However, you can’t exist subjectively at the same time to not exist objectively. (vice versa is possible as a demonstrated above)
Actually, objective reality doesn’t matter a lot, because, we can’t perceive it anyway: the moment we do that — it’s already a subjective reality.
In other words: the moment we observe the objective reality — it becomes the subjective reality. That’s why we can’t observe it.
And without subjective reality — there is no reality (for us) at all, because, it’s the only reality within which we exist, or at least, experience our existence. Yes, it means that we can exist without experiencing it (like being in coma). But does it really mean to exist?
Brain-replacement experience
Imagine John, who has a brain tumor. Lets say we are able to artificially reproduce a new healthy replica of John’s damaged brain, with all neurons untouched. All memories, skills etc. are preserved. But the new brain has no tumor. Then we replace the old brain with the new one.
When John wakes up, the last memory he remembers is that he went under anesthesia. Now he is surrounded by his family and relatives congratulating him for his recovery, meanwhile his old brain left aside as a trash. For his family, friends etc. there is absolutely no difference: he is their dear John and nothing has been changed except he is recovered now. But what about John himself? Is he ‘the real’ John or he was dead in the moment of replacement of brains?
If we clone John’s body and put the old brain with tumor into his skull, after he wakes up, he will see his replica next to him, who is referred as an ‘original’ John. The problem with this case is, that we used to have a clone with separate body and brain, but in our example clone has the ‘old’ body with ‘new’ brain and vice versa. Now there are 2 ‘Johns’ and none of them would like to die. Now relatives of John are super-confused, they don’t know whom to hug. But who is the real John? The one who has ‘old’ damaged brain with the ‘new’ body or the one that has ‘old’ body with ‘new’ healthy brain?
Following this paradox we can conclude, that the personal existence stops the moment you stop to experience anything. At the same time you can be existed for the other people, though. John was dead the moment his brain was replaced. All the chemicals that are responsible for his sensations, thoughts and experience used to pass in the device, we call brain and now that device is out of power and left aside. There is no activity in it, meaning there is no life or any experience for ‘him’. Personal experience of John’s brain doesn’t exist anymore, which makes him dead.
The new brain is a different device with his own chemicals. As I said before, if two Johns would wake up at the same time, their experience would be absolutely different and both of them would like to survive. Therefore, they are not unique, but different. And your uniqueness is your personal experience. That can’t be shared nor duplicated.
You are what you experience.
Cogito, ergo sum.
P.S
What do you think? What makes us really unique? What is our ID? Who are we?
