The Identity of Being Oneself

"Looking at old photos, I seem like a different person."

Haru murmured.

Simon answered. "But you are you."

"Really? My way of thinking and what I like are completely different."

"Change and identity. A classic philosophical problem."

Mio quietly approached and sat beside them.

Haru asked. "Mio, what do you think being yourself is?"

Mio thought a little, then wrote in her notebook. "What doesn't change?"

Simon became interested. "But what doesn't change?"

Haru thought. "The body? But I heard cells are replaced."

"There's a theory that all cells are replaced in seven years."

"So physically a different person."

"The Ship of Theseus paradox," Simon explained.

"What's that?"

"A ship's parts are replaced one by one. When all are replaced, is it the same ship?"

Haru was surprised. "Difficult."

Mio wrote in her notebook. "Continuity?"

"Sharp," Simon nodded. "It doesn't all change at once."

"Because it changes little by little, it feels the same," Haru understood.

"But is continuity alone sufficient," Simon questioned.

"Isn't it sufficient?"

"If all memory disappeared, same person?"

Haru pondered. "Memory creates self?"

"Locke's memory theory. Self-identity is based on memory continuity."

Mio wrote. "But memory is vague."

"Exactly," Simon acknowledged. "Memory is rewritten."

"So what is being oneself?" Haru was confused.

Simon presented another perspective. "There's an idea called narrative identity."

"Narrative?"

"Story. Understanding your life as one story."

Haru became interested. "I am my story?"

"Yes. Interpreting the past, envisioning the future. That story creates self."

Mio wrote. "Stories change."

"They change," Simon nodded. "Even the same past, interpretation changes."

Haru was surprised. "So self is fluid?"

"There might not be a fixed essence."

"Buddhist non-self?" Haru asked.

"Close. Self arises within relationships."

Mio wrote. "Roles?"

"That's one thing. Daughter, friend, student. Roles define self."

Haru objected. "But just playing roles isn't the real self."

"Does a 'real self' exist?" Simon questioned.

"I want to believe it exists."

"Existentialism claimed existence precedes essence."

"Difficult."

Simon explained. "Humans don't have a predetermined essence. By living, you create yourself."

Haru understood. "Being oneself isn't given but created?"

"Sartre would say that."

Mio wrote. "Freedom and responsibility."

"Yes. The freedom to create yourself and that responsibility."

Haru looked at the window. "Heavy."

"Heavy. But that's the human condition."

Haru asked. "So saying 'find yourself' is wrong?"

"Create rather than find," Simon answered.

"But," Mio wrote. "A core?"

Simon thought. "Maybe values."

"Values?"

"What you cherish. That's relatively stable."

Haru was convinced. "I am me because of what I cherish."

"One answer."

Mio wrote. "But values also change."

"They change," Simon admitted. "Nothing is completely fixed."

Haru laughed. "So no answer in the end?"

"No easy answer. But continuing to ask has meaning."

Mio stood up and opened the window. Wind came in.

Haru said. "That's so Mio."

Simon smiled. "Being oneself is a pattern."

"Pattern?"

"Repeated actions, choices, reactions. That creates 'being oneself.'"

Haru understood. "Mio opening the window is so Mio."

"Yes. But sometimes she doesn't open it."

"Not completely determined."

"That's where freedom is."

Mio wrote in her notebook. "Being oneself = pattern + freedom."

Simon nodded. "Good formulation."

Haru took a deep breath. "I think I understand the identity of being oneself a little."

"When you think you understand, it changes again," Simon laughed.

"That's okay?"

"That's okay. Self-understanding is an endless process."

The three quietly felt the wind. A changing self, yet a continuous self. Within that contradiction, being oneself exists.