I suspect that the chances of getting any sensible or coherent contribution from Yuyutsu have now reached absolute zero.

>>I have not claimed that you are either separate or an entity.<<

Yet here we are, conversing on a forum, under the impression that we each have a separate existence.

Which is exactly the sort of behaviour one would expect if we were, in fact, separate entities, capable of independent thought.

If we cannot deduce either our existence or our non-existence from our behavioural characteristics, Yuyutsu, what other clues are available that might assist?

Pericles,

Quite...

Yuyutsu,

"I have not claimed that you are either separate or an entity."

Well you have now.

"Your entity exists, this is quite apparent."

I'm quite fascinated by your employment of "YOU"...which you appear to wield as some sort of "tricky-lets-toss-out-all-the-rules-of-rational-interaction-when-it-suits-my-purpose" proposition.

"YOU are not an entity though."

So my "YOU" = "God" - which is (according to you) not even a non-material entity, and which doesn't have a definition "at all" and doesn't "exist"...even though you can identify it for the sake of referencing it in online debate.

Okay....

Dear Pericles,

<<Yet here we are, conversing on a forum, under the impression that we each have a separate existence.>>

Yes, we HAVE a separate existence, which is our body-mind combination.
But as you said, this is just something we have, not what we are.

<<Which is exactly the sort of behaviour one would expect if we were, in fact, separate entities, capable of independent thought.>>

Hypothetically, if that were the case, then the behaviour might possibly have been the same, so what?

<<If we cannot deduce either our existence or our non-existence from our behavioural characteristics, Yuyutsu, what other clues are available that might assist?>>

Just by watching a car for example, you cannot deduce either the existence or the non-existence of its owner. Some may even notice a driver inside that car: while I'm sceptical whether the mind even exists separately of the brain, the analogy could be that the driver is to the car just as the mind is to the body. Yet none of this says anything about the owner of the car, of whom the driver may merely be an employee or a thief. So if you want to know yourself, the owner or your body and mind, then you need to look inside - not outside at the road, or at the car or even at its driver.

---

Dear Poirot,

Yes, YOUR entity exists: this refers to the entity which belongs to you - your body (and mind), not to yourself.

<<So my "YOU" = "God" - which...>>

Your "YOU"? - WHOSE "YOU"?

Are you speaking for yourself or about some "YOU" (or "ME") which you happen to have?

Lol!...Pericles, he's all yours.

He can't elucidate his core meaning and so answer my question, so he switches to playing semantics.

Thanks Poirot, but no thanks.

>>Lol!...Pericles, he's all yours.<<

There isn't even a hint of a sane thread that can usefully be explored - it's all just burble...

>>...the analogy could be that the driver is to the car just as the mind is to the body<<

I think I'll just leave this one in the garage.