I still have my intellect. I still have the same personality. My body is almost completely the same. I still perceive in the same way that I had before. Compared to those similarities, what does a few temporary petty neuron signals matter?

It still is changing what you think and believe as a person. Even though it's a very minute change, it can have a small influence down the road.

@Ray, you're missing the essence our arguments - what Hyde and I both said was that it doesn't matter how small the change is, it's still a change and thus you are a changed person.

Change is the constant (huehuehue).

@Lag, with epigenetic inheritance, they're not proposing that you're entirely made up of your ancestors traits. Indeed, only very few genes get by the methylation process (the thing which deletes all these traits and starts you off with your blank slate) according to those Cambridge scientists. Plus, apparently the genes are too diluted to pass through more than 2 generations or something, though that might just be with mice (I'm no geneticist, I'm just repeating studies I've read). That's if you believe the theory, there's a lot of academic discussion about it.

I understand that. What I do not understand is while I've changed in that way, my whole identity, which is primarily identified by those traits which have not changed, can be labeled as different. Which is why I say that we've changed in some ways, but haven't changed in others.

That's where we differ. You believe those traits identify our identities, I believe our our experiences identify our traits which identify our identities.

Reading that out loud, the word's lost all meaning, lol.

But yeah, since there isn't really any science to back either sides and it's just our opinions, I think we've probably taken this as far as it can go.

Yes it's a change, but on a scale so small it's hardly with arguing about in a thread about individuality. It takes truly significant events to change the way a person thinks therefor the persons identity as a whole, but i highly doubt reading a post like the one suggested that changed him would actually do so. Then again this all comes back to what each event means to each person. So if Ray says it hasn't affected him, then it hasn't simply because he is Ray and bound only to his own reasoning provided through his life and experiences as we all are. Think of it add a combination of I think therefore I am, and To each their own.

As far as the whole identifying traits thing goes it's impossible to truly describe human life, it's as if trying to explain color to the blind. Of course we can label many things and many things can label us, but beyond everything... even experience there are variables within every person. Variables that betray that which should logically shape who we are and shedding any would be labels placed upon us.

Except for the last part, you just said the same thing Ray said, except with worse reasoning and worse grammar.
So, I'm referring you to my previous post.

As for the last part, do you really believe that the changes we're talking about are conscious? Ones 'bound by his own reasoning'? Rationalism does not a good argument make.

Well as i said before I'm on a phone so...anyway I'm not talking about anything other than the subject of individuality and the simple fact of the matter is, everyone is their own person and will believe what they wish. I think you focused a bit too hard on what i was saying and not the message so I'll try again. Nobody has to believe a thing that they choose not to, if a person has the idea that an event in their life was so small that they don't consider it a change then they can't be proven wrong considering it's their life.

Yes. I know. He has his opinion and I have mine, so we're not going to come to an agreement. That's exactly what I said 2 posts ago. So what was the point of your posts other than to just re-iterate what I've already said?

This argument is over a different point you attempted to make. If the whole we have different opinions card is in play, I'll save us both some time and take a nap.