Quote:
Originally Posted by grant hutchison
The odd thing is the phenomenon you describe, of looking back and thinking "Who was that guy?", while nevertheless being absolutely sure it was you. People acknowledge this when they say things like "I don't know what came over me" or "I just wasn't in my right mind": there is always a core "I" in there, buffeted but undisrupted.
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An important observation, but there are also counterexamples-- if they say "I don't know what possessed me", the "I" is still there, but so is some
other being or consciousness, acting in some bizarre shared state. They might say "I was possessed by the devil" to excuse their behavior, but if they really
believe it, they must believe that their identity was interrupted by the possession. Perhaps a need, brought on by guilt or incredulousness, can exceed even the need to sense a continuous identity.