{"id":254,"date":"2004-06-11T10:01:42","date_gmt":"2004-06-11T17:01:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/balafon.net\/?p=254"},"modified":"2004-06-11T10:01:42","modified_gmt":"2004-06-11T17:01:42","slug":"continuity-of-self","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/balafon.net\/?p=254","title":{"rendered":"Continuity of Self"},"content":{"rendered":"

Den Beste<\/a> offers a typically thoughtful post<\/a> on the subject of personal identity.<\/p>\n

A paragraph in Marc Ciocco’s comments<\/a> struck me:<\/p>\n

I seem to have the ability to switch mental models rather easily, viewing a problem from a number of different perspectives and attempting to figure out the best way to approach a problem. I seem to be able to reconcile my various perspectives with each other as well (for example, I seem to have no problem reconciling science and religion with each other), though the boundries are blurry and I can sometimes come up with contradictory conclusions. This is in itself somewhat troubling, but at the same time, it is also somwhat of an advantage that I can approach a problem in a number of different ways. The trick is knowing which approach to use for which problem; hardly an easy proposition. Furthermore, I gather that I am somewhat odd in this ability, at least among believers. I used to debate religion a lot on the internet, and after a time, many refused to think of me as a Catholic because I didn’t seem to align with others’ perception of what Catholics are. I always found that rather amusing, though I guess I can understand the sentiment.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I can identify with this. I’ve also often found myself in the position of mediating between various world views, whether religious or not. Although I’m a Nicene<\/a> Christian, I think of myself as a rationalist. Many of my more traditionally religous friends view this with some alarm, since I’m not reticent in expressing my opinions on:<\/p>\n