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One of the most problematic concepts I have found is the idea of permanence. People tend to assume that what they are or believe in the present moment is a permanent part of their identity. They often react as if any conflict against their perceived identity is an attack upon their physical selves. Perhaps it's the feeling of belonging that lends us to feel such passion for identities that are locked in an illusion of permanence, but the passage of time and the workings of ideology are at least changeable, if not dialectical. Permanence, and therefore identity, are illusions.

towkneed 7 Feb 28
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My identity is real for the simple reason that it exists. The assertion that identity is an illusion is thereby invalidated. Please check both your assumptions and your reasoning. Thank you very much.

Sorry, but it's a concept, not an object. You're using a connotation of existence associated with the physical reality of objects. Identity is a mental construct. Like god. Or Middle Earth. I see your point in the same light as Anselm's Ontological argument. It's symantically incorrect. Anyway, I thought it was clear that I meant a "permanent identity", but perhaps not. I should have been more clear. Just trying to get an idea down. But thanks for the feedback 😊.

@towkneed "The physical reality of objects" is nothing but a concept in your mind. Each object of which you are aware is also nothing but a concept in your mind. You are correct in taking it that what you meant by "permanent identity" is far from clear to me. Thanks for engaging.

@anglophone It's a concept shared at some level by most except perhaps sollipsists. Outside of mathematical proof what we mean by "objective" truth/reality cannot be anything other than the consensus of subjects, as all observation and perception is done by subjects. Saying something that only you experience is " real" is not a consensual "real". As a psychiatrist might say, "I'm sure it's real to you".

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So what will you do when you find all you believe is not true?

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welcome to a basic tenet in vedic beliefs. HUGE in Buddhism.
Jagat mithya = sanskrit for "the world is an illusion"

I got there from Hegel

@towkneed Congratulations. The only person ever to understand Hegel other than Frau Hegel!

@Geoffrey51 I always thought Hegel was a terrible writer. But I always read translations so I couldn't really judge.
But Marx was a Hegelian, and he was probably the most lucid writer ever despite translation. Of course- not speaking German - I could be wrong. Although I can't imagine the theory of surplus value could loose anything in translation.

@towkneed nothing wrong with Marx whether one agreed or disagrees. You know exactly what he was saying.

I suspect one needs to understand Hegel from the German but even then he apparently made words up. Schopenhauer was certainly not a fan and frequently castigated his writing.

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