31 October 2015

SOMA Quote on the Ship of Theseus

Did you know that the human body consists of up to 75 trillion individual cells? They typically don't stay with us till we die - some live a few days while others live a few years. We're not affected by their short lifespans, as they're replaced by new cells, which helps sustain our bodies. I don't think anyone would argue that we ever lose our persona due to this process, yet we are clearly in a constant state of transformation. Then how do we remain the same? A continuous flow of thought and perception keeps an unbroken chain of continuity that we know as our self. Our conscious mind is not the pattern of our brain, but a continuous emergent entity based on that pattern.

When Dr Chun populates the ARK, she is capturing a moment of our existence, and placing it inside the digital world. So you and your digital you will grow apart due to diverting experiences, but for a tiny window you are the very same. With unbroken continuity it will live on, a fulfilling life no doubt, no less than the one from which it was plucked. Now remember, you are not your body, you are the emergent entity; that entity just happens to occupy two places at once for a while. If you took away your body, you would simply be the only one you can be, the you inside the ARK. Let your body die and continue on in the digital paradise among the stars.

-- Mark Sarang, video tape recording, Site Theta, Pathos-II, SOMA, Frictional Games