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ilja's picture

The “I- function” makes

The “I- function” makes me wonder more about what is essential to human individuality. We all have the same building blocks but the patterns of behavior are different. In Reeves we saw that we can cut the cables that give our brain access to the rest of our body but Reeves was still there. His, what shall I call it, identity, his self awareness was located above his neck. This makes me wonder how much more cables we can cut without losing the presence of a person. When does the “I-function” lose it’s function? When is our identity destroyed? When are there too little connections for us to function? Not just our physically being alive I mean but for us to be ourselves. Which part of our body is truly essential to our individuality? And also, is there such a part? In a way this leads back to the start of our discussion between Dickinson and Descartes about the human ‘soul’ and weather it is a material part of our body or an immaterial part outside of it.

Leading further into this train of thought it makes me wonder about the consequences of this information for the future. If we find a part of the body, a physical part, that is essential to us (to us being there, our individuality etc.) will we be able to predict the behavior of that individual and maybe even alter it?

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