Practical Philosophy, Monday

[endsthegame]

Because the weather hadn't gotten much better, class was indoors again today, in a simple classroom. The desks had been shoved aside and there were pillows on the floor as well as the ubiquitous bag of sandwiches.

"Sorry I didn't make it last week," Ender said, sitting down once everyone else in the class had arrived. "Fandom struck and turned me into something. I'm sure you're all familiar with that by now."

He shot them a wry look.

"I hope I won't be retreading anything Yeul spoke to you about last week," he said. Glancing at the girl if she was there, he added, "I'm thankful you were able to fill in."

Then he cleared his throat and said, "This island has a habit of plucking us from our beds and turning us into something else at the drop of a hat," he said. "Frankly, it's a pain in the ass at best, a matter of extreme concern and panic at worst. Still, it does bring us to one of the most classic of all philosophical questions: what makes you yourself?" His expression got even wryer.

"If someone changes some element of your history, does that make you a different person? When you inhabit the body of a cat or a wolf, your brains rewired for the occasion, are you still yourself? Or are we who we are only in the moment that we are, and then our personalities are redistributed by the flash of a neuron? If we're shaped like something alien, does that suddenly turn us into something alien to ourselves?"

He sat back. "Just something to think about," he said.

Comments

Talk.

[endsthegame]

About matters of identity. Or whatever else happens to be on your mind.

Re: Talk.

[pulseof_life]

"If you change your past," Yeul said quietly, "then the ripples will change your future."

Which she knew from experience.

Re: Talk.

[endsthegame]

"Cause and effect," Ender agreed. "But if your future is changed, does that make that you someone else?"

Re: Talk.

[pulseof_life]

"It might make you different," Yeul said slowly. "But I think deciding if you will be someone else is up to the individual."

Re: Talk.

[endsthegame]

"So you believe it's a decision?" Ender asked, tilting his head.

Re: Talk.

[pulseof_life]

"I could be wrong but in a hypothetical situation like this, I think so," Yeul said slowly. "No one can say what will make a difference to another person except for the person themselves. In a situation where it actually occurs, I think the reality of the answer would be more complex than 'different person: yes or no'."

Re: Talk.

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

"Well, I wasn't in control of my body when I got bit by a karking gremlin," Cade said, "and whoever was had terrible karking taste in tattoos."

Re: Talk.

[endsthegame]

"I can see where that might offend you," Ender drawled, amused.

Re: Talk.

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

"It's pink and sparkly," Cade replied, making a face.

Re: Talk.

[endsthegame]

"That actually happened to Ben once," Ender mused. "The accidental tattooing, I mean. It wasn't pink and sparkly."

Re: Talk.

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

"What was his?" Cade asked.

Re: Talk.

[nothornlessrose.livejournal.com]

"When did you get a tattoo?" Cassidy asked with curiosity in her tone. Because she wanted one.

Re: Talk.

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

"Last Friday," Cade said, making a face, "while I thought I was some blonde princess."

Re: Talk.

[nothornlessrose.livejournal.com]

"After we played that game and the rest of the stuff that happened that week?"

She tilted her head. "I thought princesses in this world were girls?"

She didn't have princesses in her world, Cade. Only Queens.

Re: Talk.

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

There was a long pause.

"Yeah, they are."

Karking gremlin.

Re: Talk.

[justbeingbay]

"Dude, if I knew the answer to your question I could solve my entire life," Bay said slowly. "I'm not the person I thought I was until I was almost 16. Changing into a dog or whatever for a day is sort of nothing when you've been wrong your whole life about everything."

She drew a breath. "But -- I guess I think if you have the same brain and the same experiences, you're still the person you always were. Even if the person you are is a dog for a little while."

Re: Talk.

[endsthegame]

"So going by that logic-- are you or are you not the person you thought you were?" Ender asked.

Re: Talk.

[justbeingbay]

"I usually think I'm still me," Bay answered. "Same Bay as always. It's complicated, but my personality's what it is and 16 years doesn't just magically go away because the hospital confused which baby was which."

This was possibly the most casual way Bay had ever told her story, but she figured Ender could follow -- or ask if he couldn't.

"But at the same time, you can't just ignore it and keep doing what you were doing. I should have a totally different set of experiences, you know? I owe my whole existence to this other set of parents. So -- I'm me. But with this, like, shadow existence."

Re: Talk.

[endsthegame]

"And sometimes the shadow existence intrudes into your own thoughts," Ender said. "I can imagine that's disorienting."

Re: Talk.

[reven8e.livejournal.com]

Okay these topics were bothering her a lot. A lot.

"I generally find it a bit silly to think of what ifs...but the island probably has a point with changing people against their will", Emily said, this time clearly uncomfortable.

Re: Talk.

[endsthegame]

"It has a point?" Ender prompted. "Please tell."

Re: Talk.

[reven8e.livejournal.com]

"No, I mean, the point is that one. What if, right? I've seen people change dramatically because either something supposedly changed in their past or present or whatever," Emily said, not entirely aware of her bothered tone. "So I guess it's a pretty lame point. We are who we are."

Re: Talk.

[endsthegame]

"Are you?"

Ender had noticed the agitation on her part.

Re: Talk.

[nothornlessrose.livejournal.com]

"Something changing you doesn't change who you are," Cassidy said carefully. "Fandom turned me into a broken, mostly powerless shell one time, but even then, I retained a hold on a thread of who I am."

Re: Talk.

[endsthegame]

"Just a thread?" Ender asked, tilting his head attentively.