What's on your mind?

[Samven]

What's on my mind at midnight, the dawn of the new calendar?

The 'me' as a baby in a photo album, the 'me' running around in elementary school, and finally the 'me' sitting there...they were all the same organism called Takeshi Kuanari.
So where exactly did the entity called 'me' exist?
In the past, people thought the soul existed in a person's heart. Descartes believed the soul inhabited the pineal gland in the brain. I wondered briefly if I only existed in my memories?
But if that were the truth, then if I lost my memory like the Kid, wouldn't that mean I was no longer Takeshi Kuanari?
For one thing, the 'me' that ran around in elementary school was composed of different molecules than the 'me' here. From a purely material point of view, my younger 'me' was entirely different from my older 'me'. Cells die and are replaced daily. Every cell that is replaced will also die.
Even so, the me of five years ago before and the me there were definitely the same. Then, just what was it that defined 'me'? And where did that 'me' exist?
— Takeshi Kuanari, Ever17

I would argue that that which defines a person is something that exists entirely outside of the physical dimensions we can currently perceive and I believe there are many more. It took several million years for us to gain the organs and the senses that allow us to observe the world as we see it and I believe it will take even more before we are able to observe that which constitutes the "soul" if you will. That doesn't mean it isn't there. It just means that we can't presently see it, at least with our eyes.

In my book, you are still the same person that you were when you were five. All that has changed is that your three-dimensional body has gained and lost cells and molecules with the passage of time.

That which defines you as a person is just not something we can presently measure with our limited perceptions of reality. What we can measure it with, though, is the impression you leave in our hearts.

Screw anyone who says that's an unscientific way to conclude. I reserve the right to be a sappy bastard when I want to be.