May 6, 2074

 

One question, of course, is whether we—my code partner of choice and I will remain the same person, which shouldn’t be such a difficult question to answer.  And yet, it is strangely complicated by the lack of any wholly reliable definitions of “person.”  Oxford lists the definition as “a human being regarded as an individual,”  which sounds rather wishy-washy, or downright ambiguous.  As for Identity, according to Webster’s, that term is defined as “the fact of being who or what a person or thing is.”  So if I call myself something, does that not mean I am it?  Individual:  “a single human being as distinct from a group, class, or family.”  Indeed!  One apple is distinct from a dozen apples.  Does not that definition have to do solely with number?  I have delved lightly and selectively into psychological literature for further guidance and have so far come up with the following results.  Personality:  “The unique psychological qualities of an individual that influence a variety of characteristic behavior patterns (both overt and covert) across different situations and over time.”  But can these not be replicated? 

May 8, 2075