If the soul does not exist, why am I still 'me' regardless of the composition of my brain...

If the soul does not exist, why am I still 'me' regardless of the composition of my brain? Why do 'I' exist throughout all of my lifetime even though my brain changes a considerably large amount from age 5 to age 50? Why do 'I' continue to exist even if I hit my head with a hammer?

Memories create continuity.

"I" is a constructed identity, so it cannot be the agent who constructs it and uses it.

Also, Veeky Forums has a board for history and the humanities now. You may want to ask there.

"You" can only observe "yourself" in the respective present moment. There is no basis whatsoever to assert continuity.

You have no idea what you are talking about. All those mircoflaws. Also if you hit yourself with a hammer chances are whatever you call "I" will in fact change.

Because you aren't separate from your brain. This isn't a first person shooter, you aren't some supernatural force puppeteering a meat robot. You and every signal that produces you occur within a brain, and you change with the brain as it develops, accumulates memories, and ages. If you damage your brain, or alter it permanently in some way, you still exist because your brain still functions, but you will be altered by it because the thing which produces you has been changed or damaged.

Lets assume there is a soul.

Your argument is that the soul is the pilot of your body. However, whatever is piloting that body is subject to change based on chemical and physical alterations. Psychoactive drugs, brain damage, etc. This contradicts the nature of the soul being a perfect, nonphysical representation of you.

So assuming the soul exists, it must therefore be a "battery" for consciousness and not a pilot.

Therefore, your soul is just a source of consciousness for your ego to control your body. When your ego dies, you do truly die. Unfortunately, only more assumptions can be made about what happens next. Hopefully, conscious experience continues after death unless its some horrible experience.

>you aren't some supernatural force puppeteering a meat robot

You don't know that

You can believe you are an ego piloting a meat vehicle. That assumption is just as valid as assuming there is a soul.

>If the soul does not exist, why am I still 'me' regardless of the composition of my brain?
You're not you dumb motherfucker. Change the brain, change the person.

>Why do 'I' exist throughout all of my lifetime even though my brain changes a considerably large amount from age 5 to age 50?
You change alot from 5 to 50 you stupid shit.

>Why do 'I' continue to exist even if I hit my head with a hammer?
Come to my house and we'll thuroughly test that.