Size matters. No, not that. Well, that too, but it’s much more complicated than all the jokes. We do not get a choice about what kind of body we find ourselves inhabiting for our whole lives. My parents played genetic roulette, and the body I am stuck with is the result of an interplay between Mendelian genetic laws and chance. My ego resists the idea that my identity includes the body. The ego is a natural Cartesian: I think, therefore I am, in which case my body is just a vehicle, no more part of me because I am inside it than my car when I am sitting in it. But I can only maintain that mind-body disjunction temporarily, in certain moods. In truth, we are
July 5, 2024
July 5, 2024
July 5, 2024
Size matters. No, not that. Well, that too, but it’s much more complicated than all the jokes. We do not get a choice about what kind of body we find ourselves inhabiting for our whole lives. My parents played genetic roulette, and the body I am stuck with is the result of an interplay between Mendelian genetic laws and chance. My ego resists the idea that my identity includes the body. The ego is a natural Cartesian: I think, therefore I am, in which case my body is just a vehicle, no more part of me because I am inside it than my car when I am sitting in it. But I can only maintain that mind-body disjunction temporarily, in certain moods. In truth, we are