Psychological continuity and eternal recurrence

Thesis: i argue that because identity is a matter of psychological continuity rather than specific material particles, a cyclical universe ensures the infinite recurrence of the individual self. Details: let's take 2 human A and human B, following the theory of an infinite amount of matter in the universe, there is surely an outcome where A and B are exactly the same the physical state of these bodies throughout the experiment: they are completely still, while the experiment is running there is no change in matter in their bodies, this preserves the term consciousness during the tests from being a problem they are in a pitch black room in different coordinates and looking at eachother completely the same one looks at the other, them watching at each other doesn't change the matter in their brain simply because they are seeing the same thing they have the same exact atoms in each other's, same matter, same cells, same consciousness, same view and memories The experiment: the experiment: the bodies are floating and completely awake looking at each other, an omnipotent force swaps an atom in A brain's to B brain's, we can agree that if this happened to you with another you than you wouldn't feel any less you, and atoms aren't classified with their physical position, otherwise this experiment is useless if they are, but, an atom of O is still an atom of O both at coordinates x.y.z and at coordinates 1x.1y.1z so we make the swap, one billion years later, we swap another atom (1 billion years to make sure you cannot talk about "it's fast so the change is stored" no, it's slow so each atom feels like nothing, just like the first, and the consciousness never goes from one to the other's) now after a lot of billion of years we have Brain A in Body B and Brain B in Body A... but, at no point the consciousness in body A changed to body B and in no point consciousness in body B changed to body A, so in which coordinates does body A see? x.y.z or 1x.1y.1z, obviously, they couldn't answer the question as, knowing they are in different coordinates would change the composition of their bodies making the swap FEEL like a change and changing their consciousness. Objection: so did the consciousness end up in body B or in body A... because brain A, unaware of the swap, was still physically swapped, to another's body that is exactly the same, but we said that at no point of the test the consciousness would swap from body A to body B. Answer: The answer is simple, you don't, you never move Derek Parfit claims quote: "" Identity doesn’t matter. What matters is psychological continuity. "" Main conclusion: so what is the actual explanation of the answer? 2 different bodies that are completely the same and had same backstory in the same practical universe unchanged aren't just similar bodies, they are the exact same thing, you wouldn't only not know but there wouldn't ever be a swap because nothing logically changed, so that means that yes, parallel universe are a probable answer, you could be 1 million bodies in coordination completely different but if they had the same atoms with same backstory and same psychological continuity than you wouldn't have different consciousness, but you would never know because as long as all the universes go together, anything is completely the same. Common questions: so if this is true it raises 2 questions that change everything: if the theory of an infinite future is real, than is it assured that the exact same atom composition will once recompose to form me again. Even from different atoms, having my consciousness, letting me recreate myself. Than would i have infinite futures? 2.if in another universe than, one with the same consciousness does something different (impossible since the mere change in the universe would mean you are not the same and being the same means also the same future outcomes) than how would i have a future conscious in that universe but yet being me there, and keeping my main one here and yet being me here? The answers to the logic: 1's answer:yes, if time is infinite than logically you are immortal and can be brought back to life infinite times 2's answer: you wouldn't be you if you changed your future outcome. Objections to answer number 1: the entropy problem: if the universe gets too cold (big freeze) the atoms just float away and never click back together the proton decay: if atoms actually die after10^34 years, then the atoms for your body are gone forever (big rip) but there are solutions that make it 100% assured again if the universe does a big crunch or if photons cause a new Big Bang (Conformal Cyclic Cosmology), then the energy resets. it's like a lung breathing in and out. if the energy resets, then in an infinite span of time, the atoms **HAVE** to recompose and because memories are just matter (synapses and proteins), if the atoms are arranged exactly like the last time they were arranged before you died, then there is literally a psychological continuity. You wouldn't "remember" the trillions of years of being dead because you weren't there you would just "blink" and be in the next body with all your memories of the past universe conclusion: so both if the universe does a big crunch and a big freeze but photons cause a new big bang, than it is still completely assured that by 100% we will be revived some day by a number of almost impossible percentual 1x-10^1000000000000000000E+almost∞ but still assured in an insane amount of aeon. we are just a pattern and patterns always repeat in infinity. Important and mind note: This does **NOT** only mean you will live forever, this means you have lived already millions of trillion of lives that are exactly the same as this one, you have read this phrase and infinite amount of time in different times, the same you that started and died with only the memories it got since birth, but this same pattern was and will be copied an infinity of times and an infinite amount of times you will revive with the same memories you have when you died and an infinite amount of times you will revive with the memories you had when you died of the you that already had memories of dying in the past, there are an infinite amount of "step ups" in the knowledge of how many time you died: Conclusion: It's an infinite staircase and each step is at it's time infinite. some credits: i have sources and the name of the philosophers that argued this thesis were Friedrich Nietzsche with the Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883) & The Gay Science (1882) and for the CCC: Sir Roger Penrose

Public Last updated: 2026-04-12 05:12:14 PM