A thought

• 1.) (premise) I exist in the present
• 2.) (premise) I existed in the past and the past is something "real"
• 3.) (premise) I have free will and the future is undetermined. 

Conclusion "I" am a growing '4D' time worm and "I" can shape my identity

Inferences:

IDENTITY IN AN FINITE UNIVERSE

1.) If I only live once my identity is valuable only in some abstract way, and hence not of any particular concern.

IDENTITY IN AN INFINITE UNIVERSE

• In an infinite universe reincarnation necessarily follows (as given an infinite time everything that is possible becomes actual) 

If identity is directly shaped by my actual moral/experiential deeds then "I" could only exist where "I"  performed similar actions to those that I performed in my actual life or in a life where I felt the results of those actions.


Thus if "I" were to be reincarnated I would have to perform similar deeds in all subsequent infinite reincarnations. 

Thus I should pick my actions very very carefully indeed.

COUNTERARGUMENT 1

Life whether finite or infinite is imperfect so it’s not all that important to “choose” our identity right, if indeed we can choose our identity. Indeed many things are beyond our control and as long as we have a reasonably ok identity then it is unrealistic and a waste of effort to aim for a much much greater life..

COUNTERARGUMENT 2

Rigid identity and an infinite universe necessarily impliy determinism. (i.e. i was always performing these deeds in an infninte chain with no beginning or end) So I can't change my identity even if I wanted to.

COUNTERARGUMENT 3

I only have control of a small part of what shapes my identity (my actions), bad things still happen if I do good things.