What Is It That's You?

If you answered "my consciousness," then what happens if you wake up one day and it's not the same? This is a strange and frightening essay.

COMMENTS
Al Marcy's picture

It is OK. Don't be frightened. I got CFS in 1997. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. SPECT scan revealed severely reduced blood flow in left frontal lobe, both temporal lobes and visual cortex. I can't work. I spend most of my time in bed. I can get up and go to the grocery store and occasionally take the car to the car wash. Mostly I listen to Music and play Matrix Online. My monitor hangs from the ceiling. So, I am looking up ;)

Wes Phillips's picture

>So, I am looking up ;)<That's good to hear—both in general terms and specifically becase I feel I've gotten to know you through your posts here, on the Forums, and in response to www.stereophile.com Votes.I think Gilbert Sheldon got it almost right in the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers—assuming you substitute music for dope. It has gotten me through more than I ever would have anticipated.

Buddha's picture

I wish this was a thread more than a Blog reply list. Great topic and very thought provoking reply by Mr. Marcy. Please excuse me if this is overly intimate, but with SPECT scan results, it may be really helpful to compare the effects of different interventions by comparing SPECT results. It could be a more rapid way to see in advance if a given treatment may have any utility. Also, have you tried Modafinil? Again, not meaning to pry. Oh, and to answer the original question, I believe we are what are brains are.

Wes Phillips's picture

>I wish this was a thread more than a Blog reply list. <Actually, I'd always hoped these links would stimulate more discussion than they do—not that I'm unhappy in the company of you, Buddha, Al, Jeff, Alan in Victoria, and Jeff&#151'but I'd love to explore some of these topics in more detail and hear more from other people.I too believe we are what we think—and that greatness comes wehen we don't accept our limits. So," I find Al's refusal to ""be"" his syndrome heroic", as I did the story about the autistic chap who created a living and a life out of his situation.When I was at CES, I had a conversation with Kal Rubinson, who is a neuroscientist in his day job and we spotted a billboard for a hypnotist. I asked him if he'd ever been hypnotized and he said no—he asked me the same and I said heck no, that as far as I was concerned the universe only existed because I was aware of it.Probably untrue—but why risk it?

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