I am here to ask a question. Rather, I am here to answer one. A question that has been asked for centuries now and hasn’t been answered. Science couldn’t answer it, neither could philosophy. Greatest of minds have been dwelling to answer it but, the more deepthey dive into its mystical realms, the more they get lost and once lost, they become victims to the treacherous jaws of this beast like question. They drown forever in its depths and we are left with no answer to marvel at. So, do I want to be a victim to this rather simple, yet a complex, conglomerate question? Do I want to dive and explore the eternal mystery that it brings?
I am a man of thoughts. I like finding new and meaningful questions or rather bestowing meaning to the meaningless. I find great curiosity in myself, finding immense pleasure in pondering over the mysteries which this universe encompasses and in answering the deepest of questions that the mankind has lain before themselves, ourselves.
Will I be able to answer this question, which the noblest of people have failed to answer? Am I a superior breed?
Certainly not. Not that I think so. I have some thoughts in store for me to deliver. But, it is a matter of acceptance, as it has always been. Those noble souls delivered their piece and I am about to deliver mine, a mere augmentation to the pool of thoughts. It is the people who will decide on whether to complement it with their acknowledgement, or not. Whenever there is a proposition, there is an opposition. Such has been the trend for centuries. I display no intent to criticize it, as it is this trend by virtue of which mankind has risen to such elevations. Delineating an answer for this question and providing a detailed and objective proof as a support is nearly impossible. This question is the key to our very existence, key to the existence of mankind. It is the fuel that drives us to explore further. Even in our subconscious, we are in search of its answer. People may not agree. Some may say that, they haven’t thought of it, ever. But, still in a way, directly or otherwise, they somehow are involved in the quest. In some way or the other, helping someone who is thriving over the captivating curiosity of answering this question.
To ward off bigotry from your part as a reader, I choose not to reveal the question first. To keep your mind open to reason and to a rational discussion, I start off with my version of the answer or more precisely with the elucidation of my thoughts right away.
If I were to introduce myself. What would I say?
I would certainly, like any other person, would start off by saying, “Hi, my name is Kartik.” Followed by my occupation, where I am from etc. But, am I being correct when I say all that?
Let us take a more specific example. I am in a conference or convention of some sort. There are various people or more precisely delegates attending it. I am overwhelmed by the gleaning charm and allure of this place created by the presence of a much cognizant gentry. I don’t want to miss an incredible opportunity like this, to make some good contacts. So, I walk to a group of people and introduce myself. “Hi, I am Kartik Sharma and I am an undergraduate student at Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, pursuing chemical engineering as my branch of study. Currently I am in my pre final year. It’s a pleasure to meet such brilliant personalities on such a delightful occasion…” and so I continue. Here I started off my conversation with those incredible people, by introducing myself in a way described above. Now let’s take another example.
Let’s go back a few years from now. Maybe five. I am in eleventh standard or the pre-final year of my high school. If I were to meet some people now, how would I do that? Maybe, I will start off in the same way, by saying, “Hi, I am Kartik Sharma…” but, continue differently, “I am a high school student, currently pursuing science as my subject. I plan on being an Engineering in the future…”
Now let’s go back a bit more. I am a 6 year old kid, and a distant relative suddenly comes to visit. Mom asks me to introduce myself. Being an incredibly well-mannered, polite, articulate and genius child (none of which I truly was), I introduce myself, “Good evening, I am Kartik. I study in second standard at Salwan Public School and I like reading books, working on computers and playing with hot wheels’ cars. Also, I like to play cricket with my friends.”
I am the same person, Kartik Sharma. But, with time I display varied personality or identity.
Do I?
Let’s explore further.
I am a kid now. I am agile, short heighted. I weigh less. I have good skin, big brown eyes, short hair, small hands and feet. Twenty years later, I am a grown man. I am taller, stronger. I have grown facial hair. My skin is not as smooth and tight as it used to be. I wear spectacles. I keep a bit longer hair now. I have fully grown hands and legs. Size 11 shoes fits my feet (I am 6 feet 1 inch tall). Now, add thirty years to my age. I am probably an old fragile man. Bent back, considerable loss of hair, I have a few teeth left in my mouth. I have started to use bifocal lens due to weak eyesight (both near and far). I have wrinkled skin.
In all the cases mentioned above, I am the same person. Yet, the description is different. Have I changed?
If we observe even more. One would notice that in all the time, right from my birth to my fragile old state, I have had varying behavioural traits, i.e., I exhibited different behaviour at different times of my life. My childhood was cute, with adorable laughs and giggles, pleasant short talks filled with curiosity about everything. My teenage was a bit harsh to others, solitude was more of my thing. While, my old age would probably be filled with calmness and wisdom.
It is so fascinating to see the effect of placing all the three stages of my life at once. That is, if I introduce the three versions together to a person without mentioning the name, he would probably take them to be three different people. But if placed at different time zones and given the same name, all the three versions point to the same individual, i.e., in this case, me.
This phenomenon is popularly discussed under a widely debated topic, “persistence of identity”. This topic is essentially an elaboration on a conflict, a conflict that has long existed. How can two things be entirely different in almost all aspects, yet be the same?
The 6 year old kid and the 60 year old man, have different behaviour, entirely different built and physique, huge experience and knowledge gap, but still, they are the same person.
Think of custom cars. A proud owner of a sterling 1960 Chevy Impala plans to customize it, to get a unique, unparalleled custom made car for himself. He goes to a custom car manufacturer/designer. The designer plans to transform the car’s body to make it more streamlined and also plans to repaint it from blue to devil red. He plans to add a new fuel injection system to the old engine for better performance. Add a bit chrome to the body for some shine, and tweak with the interiors a bit. The owner agrees and in a few weeks he gets his brand new, yet old Impala back.
See the conflict? What would you call this car, new or old? Is it the same Impala, even if considered different, is it Impala at all?
Some would say that it is the same car, just with a few modifications. While others would say that the essence of the old Impala is gone, after so many alterations. It is a matter of perspective. Many antiques are kept with numerous alterations done to them at various points in time, for preservation, yet the antiques are considered to be same as they used to be. Although we are just restoring them by either painting them in the same colour, or by replacing an identical part, yet we somehow manage to say that they are the same old thing. This is a very important aspect of “identity” identification, on which the work of a “restoration guy” thrives. If we somehow start to believe that once any part of an object is changed it loses its original identity, all restoration shops will close.
Humans too, in their lifetime, change. Their skin gets loose, their milk teeth are replaced by new permanent ones, number of bones in their body change over time. Also, their mental abilities and perception of things vary with time. So, if one starts to take into account changes while defining identity, the world would be in chaos. But with this, one would argue that the identity does change. Identity doesn’t depend on a singular aspect, rather has numerous parameters. When, in the example, I was introducing myself, the only thing equable in each, was my name and the rest was different. So, if I consider the entire introduction to be my identity, I would say that it did change with time. Agreed?
Arguments can still be placed against this discernment and we will fall back to where we started building up. Similar were the complications faced by various intellectuals, when they started to debate. And the debate started when some astute person asked himself, “Who am I?”
The only possible way to identify a person, precisely and without any conflict, would be if something were constant throughout his or her life. And hence, comes the role of philosophers and mythologists. The only thing that remains, that is immortal and incorporeal to a living species, is their “soul”. But, then an agnostic and scientific mind like mine would ask, “What about the non-living? Don’t we identify them? Do they have a soul too?”
This small question and the quest of finding its answer has given mankind various new prospects and numerous new challenges to face. It has made us advance to what we are now. Finding more questions and their answers, developing new things for our betterment (or sometimes our desolation). Building the entire foundation of our respective religious beliefs.
People throughout history have asked, “Who am I? What is the meaning of this life?”
If I were to answer the latter, I would say, that the meaning of our lives would simply be to answer the prior, to know who we really are.
The quest continues.
experiencelog 