who/what is you?

[bruno]

the self is a construct, a concept born from enlightenment philosophy. it is not a "thing" or a concrete element of reality, it is the building block for a society of control, a tool of the logic of capitalism. is it really important for this "self" to be expressed? what are the ramifications of this expression?
what if we imagine a world with no "self"s at all, would this entail a world with no "others"? in a world with no individuals, wouldn't we be faced with an environment free of intolerance, hatred, violence, and etc?

[Ariel Namowicz]

I see what you're saying and i think that this is really an age old debate. For me, its like asking, should we have the freedom of speech even if some are going to use that freedom to spew hateful ideas and spread negative influences out into our world? But i see that the answer to that is simple. Of course we should still have freedom of speech because without it we wouldn't be able to educate the world around us with the concepts of love, change, and passion. In a world with no individuals we wouldn't have intolerance, hatred, and violence but we also wouldn't have power, emotion, and love.

[Jadon Ulrich]

Hologram. In it is not the Object, but the Subject. repeating upon splitting. The parts are yours, I'll take the (w)hole.

[Sharon]

"I suggest again that in such individuals the development of personality is a stable and consisitently progressive process in which ego mechanisms involve expansion and consolidation rather than the achievement of stasis and use of regression, and that psychic energy is expended less to maintain interior stability than it is to increase and develop creative potential.- Don Handelman

While we're discussing the self and identity I'd like to hear thoughts on the privacy of mind. If every one of us had telepathy, would we still have identity? I ask in such a way, b/c I can't help but feel that what gives identity is the ability to have a private self too. Regarding a collective sub-conscience also...I think we all effectively participate together.