Hey, I’m new here and have never posted on anything like this. I totally understand if I’m being an idiot, so feel free to highlight this. I just wanted other peoples thoughts on this as I’m struggling to find any other posts on it, I’m probably just searching the wrong terms.
This is a bit of a messy brain dump but it’s a thought that’s been racking around in my brain for a while. It started with the theory that we are the universe experiencing itself and it’s slowly grown from there.
So as a quick summary it’s the idea that if someone was to somehow change one small atom, structure or design in my brain before it had even grew in the womb, would I have ceased to ever exist, or would I just be a slightly different version of myself? More specifically would my consciousness ceased to ever exist. I realise it’s impossible to change something before it’s been created so it’s sort of a stupid question.
The logical answer to me is yes I’d still be the same person, but ever so slightly different. But at what point of changing my brain before it was made would a different consciousness have been born. Or was my consciousness always going to exist no matter what brain was made in the womb?
Personally I believe consciousness does come from our brain and it dies with our brain. But I also believe I’d still be here if the design of my brain was slightly altered before it was created. I just think I’d be slightly different.
Or would this version of me never existed, but another one would have. Which I’d still be experiencing?
But in that case, is there a point in which it’s not a version of me, but an entirely different person? And if so, would I still experience that life? I keep saying ‘I’ but I suppose it wouldn’t be me is the point. But they’d still be using the same energy and body that I would have used.
If it’s the same energy, isn’t it the same energy experiencing life, even if they do think differently to how I would have? So I guess the question would be does energy experience life? Is that what our consciousness comes from? Everything is made up of energy, so I suppose you could easily claim this? Whilst there’s energy and life, do we always experience it? “We” as energy. Maybe that’s a different debate.
Obviously there’s not a definitive answer for this but I’m going round in circles. I don’t believe our consciousness is separate from our body/brain but in that case surely any slight change in the design of my brain before it was made would mean someone else would experience its life? And if not, then our consciousness or whatever makes us awake and aware would exist no matter what brain/person was made?
