Chapter 2013: Psychology and Philosophy of Identity

Not even the very finest state-of-the-art and cutting-edge recovery and medical treatments of the Martial Union had ever made his body feel this good in its entire life!

The fact that the Divine Doctor could produce an outcome

Unfortunately, not even the immense physical pleasure and bodily satisfaction could possibly fill a gaping void in the depths of his eyes.

His mouth curled as a sharp question escaped him.

"What else did he tell you?"

Kane's expression darkened. "...He told me everything. Congratulations on your breakthrough to the Master Realm, but..."

His expression grew more grave. "...I can understand if you're not in the mood to celebrate that."

Kane's voice faltered.

He truly didn't know what to say.

He didn't even know what to think.

He had learned about Rui's past life in another world two years ago.

Over the past two years, he had fully accepted that his best friend was a man from another world with another life.

Now, however, that had been undone after the Divine Doctor informed him of the truth.

While the impact the truth had on him was nowhere near as devastating as the one it had on Rui, he, too, was truly shell-shocked into silence. He was glad Rui had been unconscious for three days because it gave him some time to think and prepare to help his friend when he did wake up.

"...I can't imagine how you must be feeling. I can't imagine how you must have felt, but if there's anythi—"

"—Kane." Rui cut him off, slowly turning towards him.

The air grew tense.

It grew tense as endless darkness swirled within the depths of Rui's eyes.

A void.

"...Yeah?" Kane gulped.

"Who am I?"

Rui's voice was chilling.

It was a simple question.

Yet, the answer was perhaps the most complicated a question could ever have.

"You have all the memories of John Falken," Kane insisted. "How is that any different from a soul being reincarnated? They're literally the same thing!"

Rui stared at Kane impassively, lightly scoffing at his attempt at philosophy and psychology.

However, the intent and the effort counted.

He appreciated Kane's efforts at giving him what he had lost.

Alas, if the solution had been that simple, he would have never lost it in the first place.

"Mind is far comprised of far more information than memories alone, Kane."

His voice was hollow.

Empty.

"...What do you mean?" Kane furrowed his eyebrows. "A person is their memories, right? We're all born with blank slates. And then our memories and experiences define and shape us. Thus, implanting John Falken's memories and experiences into someone's mind is no different from implanting John Falken's mind or soul or identity or whatever into that person. That is identical to reincarnation."

Rui closed his eyes.

"We're all born with blank slates, you say?"

"...Aren't we?" Kane frowned.

Rui's eyes as he met Kane's gaze.

A single remark escaped him.

"No." His voice grew cold. "No, we are not."

Kane tilted his head in confusion.

"If you think newborn infants are blank slates, I'm afraid you're sorely mistaken. There are countless pre-

determined neurological and psychological parameters, including but not limited to psychogenetic temperamental and personality inclinations, whether you are inclined towards being open, agreeable, neurotic, conscientious, or extraverted. Additionally, there are pre-determined genetic factors in neurology and endocrinology as well, such as pre-

determined thresholds for the release of neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin. All of these countless parameters and variables are different for each newborn baby. So no, newborn babies are not blank slates such that only memories and experiences shape identity. These neurogenetic, psychogenetic, and other genetic traits also shape identity just as much as memories and experiences do."

Kane stared at him, speechless, utterly confounded by everything Rui had just said.

"If you were to implant John Falken's memories in one million babies, each and every single one of those million babies would become entirely different people altogether with entirely different minds," Rui's voice was as clinical as the Divine Doctor's. "Some John Falken babies would become psychopaths or school shooters due to the bullying that John Falken suffered as a kid due to genetically being high on the anti-social personality disorder spectrum. Some of those babies would become horrible people due to genetically high trait disagreeableness. Some babies would become saints. Most babies would turn out normal-ish, but all of them would be very different from each other as people and would have very different minds and different behaviors despite being implanted with the same memories. They would all be very different from the original John Falken, with different emotions, desires, goals, and ambitions. Essentially, different people from the original John Falken."

Rui stared at Kane impassively. "Can you say all those babies implanted with John Falken's memories are John Falken? Or even the same people in identity?"

Kane was stunned silent.

"...Not to mention," Rui huffed. "That was just genetic differences alone. I haven't even talked about environmental differences and how those differences lead to different identities. Environments play an enormous role in shaping who you are."

There was a vast field of psychological research that demonstrated that genetics and physicality, environment, and exposure all played an enormous role in shaping identity and mind.

As much as Rui would love to believe that identity was solely and exclusively memories alone, he knew that that was simply not true. It was one of three major factors that affected identity.

"That's just scientific issues with your argument," Rui remarked. "I haven't even talked about the philosophical problems with the proposition of identity-

equals-memory. There's a reason that the philosophy of identity within ontology and metaphysics has existed for thousands of years, with thousands of philosophers debating what identity is and developing many schools of thought about exactly what identity is. If the answer to the question of what identity is, if such an answer even exists, was simply equating it to memory, then a vast field of philosophy would uld have never existed in the first place."

Rui gazed at his hands, clenching them into fists. "...I don't know who I am, but I do know one thing."

His eyes sharpened with steely determination. "If knowing who I am is needed for fulfilling Project Water, then I will discover who I am, no matter what."