As explained, the part of your brain that allows you to be aware of your conscious experience, experience as an object in a context is the part that contemplates these things. This part of the brain allows you to then choose what object and what contexts you like and dislike, handle well or are afraid of etc. This part of the brain allows you to recognize contexts and become correct objects (for example if someone is in need of help you become the helper as you think this is a good scenario leading to good things).
This part of your brain has the ability to think outside the box, outside of you. This part of the brain is connected to imagination so it can process imaginary contexts as well. This part of the brain provides the embedded logic fault of "imagining" infinity(or the entire universe) and then "stepping out of it" as if it were contained, not boundless. So we can never really imagine infinity because the subjective-thinking self is always outside of it, looking at it, so it is always imagined non-infinite. As this part of the brain provides these notions about contexts, it is also "asked of"(by thoughts) to provide a notion about non-existence as a context, but it can not possess a notion about such an experience. The "lack of sense or data or notion" about non-existence causes inability to think how it would be not existing. This causes us to imagine that our "consciousness" (in science) or "soul" (in religion) is something special that exists beyond the material world and we worry where will our "subjective self"(the one that is aware of existence) go after the body dies. When people attempt to imagine being dead they imagine themselves in a coffin, or as a soul floating around or in heaven or reincarnated or whatever. It is always a context of existence rather than non-existence which can not be imagined. This is most revealed if you think that each such "imagining" is in fact seen by a hidden witness, you - your awareness looking at the imagined concept, being there to witness it and to provide a notion of it to your consciousness. So it is always there, just as it is there when imagining and looking at the infinity of the universe, causing the logic fault in thinking.
We can not subjectively comprehend that our consciousness is a phenomena arising from the body, that it is an awareness existing within a sandbox provided by neuron networks. Its ability to contemplate, be aware of and understand existence is a consequence of it being evolved to provide better social control. Awareness of self is a social awareness of self, awareness of different social contexts that objectify you into various roles. It is hard or impossible to imagine that our thinking-selves or subjective selves are in fact tools awaken by the body to guide it better, rather than them being masters that were "awarded" a body to control.
The meaning of life is therefore lacking as we think we are awarded bodies and lacking purpose, but in fact our subjective selves are a tool executing the bodies needs and as such have inherent purpose, The purpose of the subjective self is to evolve in satisfying the bodies needs which in our species drastically depend on social ability and so require the subjective self to handle this requirement for social ability. The purpose of our subjective self is in fact to guide the body and it is rewarded and punished by emotions depending on how good it does.
Point being, we can not subjectively understand this, but simply need to accept that awareness of consciousness is simply an emotion, a sense being fed to your consciousness and the manipulation of it does not ensure any kind of "originality of self". Its purpose is to provide a sense of self as a mechanism, while the originality is stored in your entire nervous system and beyond. This sense (vmPFC) only provides a special kind of access to this originality, a kind of access that provides a notion of self existing.
If bodies are cloned, each body will awake its own consciousness and the awareness of it which will then start providing "self-thoughts". Both awareness will think they are the "original you".
Thoughts that happen in your head are part of the running sandbox in which you think, this can not be transferred to another body as such as it is a notion upheld by the activity of your brain, by the senses and thought schemas actively feeding this notion. It disappears when the brain is passive. This "subjective self" is simply created/switched on by the body/brain as it awakens as a tool. The issue is that all your self-aware thoughts are stemming from this tool so you imagine yourself to be this tool rather than your entire wholeness.
Edited by addx, 08 June 2014 - 01:36 PM.
