vertiginous question

The name Benj Hellie gave to this question: "Why am I me and not someone else?". It's called "vertiginous" because it makes people's heads spin, especially the heads of P-zombies. Also called the "even harder problem of consciousness", since it's even harder to solve than David Chalmers' hard problem of consciousness. Materialism can't seem to answer it. Its unanswerability and the fact that the self exists at all may possibly imply that solipsism is true, that animals aren't sentient, and that this is all a simulation where everyone else is an NPC. It may also imply that I'm immortal and that my consciousness will last forever, living as everyone.

How a nonsentient P-zombie NPC reacts after hearing about it: "The vertiginous question is meaningless. If I were someone else, I wouldn't be me."

vertiginous question by dead666420 November 19, 2025