so as suspected she doesn’t really take it well, but she measures her response knowing why he was reluctant to tell her (at least until he’s out of the room)
This week we focus on personal identity. And today we discuss the sameness of clones.
Let’s go.
Personal identity
PhilosopherJohn Locke argued that a person goes where their consciousness goes; their personhood consists in things like memories. Therefore, a person must be able to extend their consciousness backwards to past events to be the person presently who experienced them.
Some absurdities arise, however. Why trust memories to solidly define us? I might have a genuine belief that I am Ash Ketchum but, alas, I am not ☹ And what if I was asleep or drunk, beyond memory collection: was I really not there? Still, there is something interesting going on here, for wherea person is apparently situated is in their consciousness.
In one of Locke’s examples a prince, via hisconsciousness, is able to enter a cobbler’s body. He takes his ‘princely thoughts’ with him.
Clones
Let’s apply Locke’s view to clones by asking: if a person is cloned, are there two of the same person?
No. Locke would have denied this claim. One’s point of consciousness can move between bodies but ‘the soul’ cannot be in more than one place at once.
This is bad news for a clone: the original soul stays with the host. The clone may faithfully recollect past events and share personality traits. They can live indistinguishably in ignorance. But their life can be deflated with one prick of the truth, with which they will realise that their life is a lie: that there is no organic connection to their memories; that they did not experience those events.
These are truly gutting thoughts to consider. But there is hope in life anew—that is, if we follow Mewtwo in Pokémon: The First Movie(1998):
‘I see now that the circumstances of one’s birth are irrelevant; it is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are.’
Cloning imprisons a copy of the soul. However, a unique vantage point is created from which a clone becomes increasingly autonomous. They gather new experiences, forging new memories. Their soul is new. They are original. Their life belongs to them.
Nice one, Mewtwo.
⁂
Some afterthoughts are due.
What is it to be somebody connected through time? After all, our cells die and are recycled, our personalities change, and our memories falter. On what grounds do we persist?
For Locke, bodies are less important for personal identity than psychological states (cf. bodily vs. psychological criteria). Sidestepping accounts of bodily criteria, Lockeans think our identities are born in memories and other features of psychology. Schechtman (2005) argues that self-narratives and elements of unconsciousness play a part too.
In memory we are often misguided. Memories alone, as objects of thought, are residuals of imperfectly recorded events—events which occur infinitesimally in the present and are forever being replaced. Our connections to those memories are loose. They are flimsy. The memories lose their vivaciousness over time.
Woo, it’s my 20th bday (was too lazy to post about it last week) and the day already sucks *sigh* I’m not gonna hold my breath and hope for something to change that though.
So yeah, I didn’t have time due to gaming and some boring homework and decided to make a quick sketch instead. He’s a Mewtwo gijinka, based on the new form (however it’s gonna be called). He’s got horns because of the “ears” it has; they’re sharper in that form. His hair’s long cuz of what happens to its head in that form (tail hair growth? lol), though he’s supposed to have a scarf which I didn’t feel like drawing atm.
He’s levitating through the air using psychic or something.
The new Mewtwo form shall forever remain Animewtwo in my head (Animu/Anime, derp). Hell, the transformation sequence from the trailer would look like Sailor Moon if it actually showed him changing instead of praying then getting covered with light.
@someoddmix #LMAO RED’S ALBUM #you never know if you’re gonna get something mundane or jaw dropping #it’s only a practice battle blue! =) #makes sense with cyrus’ memories #for the best that they stay hidden #especially if someone who WANTS cyrus back somehow catches wind of this #lmao it would be funny if they also had a hard time recognizing cyrus now #oof yeah the japanese characterizations make things INTERESTING #completely understandable caution from mewtwo #taking things nice and slow #weeeeellll mewtwo and akari are only a few degrees of separation from each other #linked through cynthia #or giratina #or maybe mew tells arceus at some point and arceus wants to meet this man made pokemon? #not sure if they’d want to send akari on ANOTHER quest tho #or that she’d want to go #ooooorrr maybe mewtwo is looking more into cyrus/giratina now
Yeah, life with Red is certainly never dull! You learn to either roll with the punches or stop returning his texts. ;)
It’s definitely going to be an interesting day if the rest of Team Galactic ever catches wind that Cyrus is back, because they’d probably want to confront him for multiple reasons (which probably vary from member to member).
And I’m not quite sure how it would happen at the moment, but I think I’d like for Mewtwo and Arceus to meet. With how Arceus is under my pen, I think it could be a very good encounter. As for Mewtwo and Cyrus, I think that Mewtwo can appreciate Cyrus’s willingness to just sit there and be quiet. He goes to Red to talk about things he wonders or is confused about (because he trusts Red the most of anyone), and Blue is good for discussions and debates. Cyrus, it turns out, is good for those times when you don’t want to be alone, but you also don’t want to talk. When you’re still figuring out your place in the world, even if you are pretty certain at this point that you’re a part of it, sometimes you just want to silently share space with another thinking being.
@someoddmix #too bad red missed the action! #but I’m sure cyrus will be happy to introduce them when they meet on the mountain
Red is distraught that he missed the action, absolutely desolate. Blue considerately tells him to get over it, he wouldn’t have been allowed to battle Giritina anyway, stop pouting, you wouldn’t’ve-!!! …why am I expecting dignity from a grown man is a baseball cap, you have no dignity, you are a disgrace, yes I’ll make pasta for you for supper, stop it. Nerd. (affectionate)
Red and Blue both get to be there the first time Cyrus meets Giritina on the mountain! Because Cyrus is excited to properly see his friend again, but he’s also feeling nervous and understandably delicate after having learned the truth of his past, and he wants a bit of supervision for this.
Upon Giritina’s arrival:
Red: (eyes alight with shonen protagonist excitement) (slowly starts to raise a hand with a pokeball in it)
Blue: (without even looking) (calmly pushes Red’s arm back down)
@someoddmix #LMAO YES #‘absolutely desolate’ XD XD XD #‘considerately tells him to get over it’ XD XD XD #I LOVE their dynamic so much!!! #‘you are a disgrace YES I’ll make pasta for you’ #nerd (affectionate) #I LOVE THEM #aw I’m glad the supervisions comes from friends #who are also excited to meet your very strong legendary friend #'shonen protagonist excitement’ XD XD XD #pushes his hand back down!!! #freaking love that!!! #maybe giratina will agree to a battle later #for fun!
Thanks, getting on three years in the Ace Attorney fandom has taught me well when it comes to writing rivals who are also very close friends! ^U^ And Cyrus really lucked out in that they’re his friends now, too. :)
Speaking of whom, Cyrus isn’t paying any attention to either of them, he’s looking over Giritina, wait, I don’t remember you having legs? Oh, wait, gravity works differently here, doesn’t it? Yes, then it would be more convenient to have them here - they look very nice. I think… you like scratches, don’t you? I can’t get up there, would you please lean down…?
Red and Blue then have the honour of being the first people in existence other than Cyrus to see Giritina flop over on its side to get the area behind its golden crown-ridge scratched. This goes a long way towards making Blue feel better about the whole situation, because 1) Yeah, Cyrus is still acting like the Cyrus he knows and 2) he’s been friends with Red his whole life, this situation really isn’t that weird to him, Mewtwo still shows up from time to time to raid his tea supply, this isn’t that different. (Yes, this is movie Mewtwo, because I love him. Events here didn’t go down exactly as they did in the movie, but the important thing is that Red and Mewtwo are pals, and Mewtwo also likes Blue well enough.)
Also, fun fact: the reason (in this universe) that Giritina has a mouth in its altered form is so that it can ask for snacks. >U>
@someoddmix #scratchies!!!#oh snacks are VERY important! #aaaaawwww giratina is so cuuute! #blue is like 'oh good it’s like the mewtwo thing’ #i can handle that #yeah mewtwo pals!! #lmao I imagine Giratina’s a bit like #oh a mountain that isnt Mt Coronet? #nice #aaww I bet Cyrus’ pokemon are happy to see Giratina again and vice versa!
Giratina’sfinally found their friend again, life is good! Scratchies! Finally getting to try berries! Head bumps! Getting all that nasty ultra wormhole energy off him so Giratina can easily find their friend again next time they want to visit! Playing with Tiny Pokemon Who Do Not Fear Them! Meeting new people! Enjoying new scenery!
And yeah, Mewtwo’s the most obvious and present force, but Red just has a thing for running into legendaries when he’s out and about - he’s met a good chunk of them, and he’s got the photograph album to prove it! Mewtwo is the main one who tends to visit, though - Red was his first human friend, and Blue’s interesting to talk to (the fact that he studies pokemon but doesn’t experiment on them means that Mewtwo is willing to tolerate the lab coat, but Blue will take it off when he can if Mewtwo’s around).
The first time Mewtwo shows up for a visit after Cyrus’s past is revealed is also the first time he properly meets Cyrus (instead of avoiding him), upon Red and Blue’s request (and slightly Cyrus’s too), just to take a quick look in Cyrus’s head and see what’s going on in there. Since, you know. When you’re friends with the world’s most powerful psychic pokemon, who is also capable of human speech via telepathy, might as well ask, you know? Prior to this, Mewtwo has avoided Cyrus as he tends to avoid most humans - he’s slowly (very slowly) starting to feel somewhat more comfortable around them, but he’s very choosy about who he interacts with. However the whole reason he teleported in this time was because he felt the weird space-time-rift-unquantifiable-thing that happened near his own friends, so he went to check on them. And if Cyrus is involved with that, better meet him, see if he’s okay (see if Mewtwo needs to wipe his mind).
Cyrus is a little startled on meeting Mewtwo for the first time, because he wasn’t told who this ‘expert’ Red and Blue offered to get in touch with for him was exactly (because friends respect friends’ preferences to not let others know the details of their existence if asked), but he’s used to Giratina, so he rolls with it pretty well.
Mewtwo floats over, stares at him for a few minutes, circles him a couple times, then floats over to stare into Cyrus’s ear.
Mewtwo: {I can see daylight.}
Red: (turns to scowl at Blue) You are a terrible influence and this is your fault.
Blue: What I’m hearing is that Mewtwo thinks I’m funnier than you. :3
Red: >:O >:[
A bit more snarking, and Mewtwo clarifies that, yeah, Cyrus’s memories of his life prior to his time in Distortion World seem to just… not be there, or not in a way that Mewtwo can find. He assumes that they’re probably in there somewhere, since Cyrus still all his language skills and can write and make food and other learned skills, but Mewtwo can’t find any way to access them. Which… honestly relieves Cyrus a bit. It makes him feel a bit more secure in the concept that he’s not going to just… wake up someday and be that guy Cynthia told him about again.
After this it turns into more of a regular visit, and Cyrus earns the valuable status of ‘humans Mewtwo is willing to tolerate knowing of his existence.’
@someoddmix #giratina is getting SO MUCH ENRICHMENT #good for them! #lmao I love Red’s photo album of legendaries #oh man it WOULD be concerning to notice strange space time rift near your friends #especially that one friend that always somehow runs into other legendaries #and danger #adding giratina to the photo album!!! 8O #LMAO MEWTWO WAS REALLY LIKE #'no thoughts head empty ’#AMAZING #lmao I wonder if mewtwo was like #'if he still has those memories I can get rid of them for good’ #red and blue were probably like 'NO’ #but cyrus was like 'hmm maybe’ #'I can see daylight’ XD XD XD #'what I’m hearing is that Mewtwo thinks I’m funnier than you’ #RED’S FACES XD XD XD #awwww cyrus making more friends! #i’d wonder if mewtwo would ever meet giratina #but mewtwo #might not be all that interested in meeting other legendaries
Yeah, Giratina’s really starting to understand why the rest of their family likes these ‘human’ creatures so much. They had come to understand and accept their role as guardian of Distortion World, and as the counterweight to the Pokemon World in many ways, but it’s still kind of a lonely job (though sometimes you don’t realize that you’re lonely until you finally get some company).
(And I see that Giratina floated that one thing it did to Cyrus while visiting on the mountain right past you, as well as the people who were there. ;) )
The best part of Red’s photo album is that it’s organized completely chronologically. Meaning you get pictures of his pokemon or cool places he’s been, shots of him in battle taken for him by friends, then, boom, selfie with Suicune right next to one of Blue asleep at his computer. He absolutely got a selfie of himself, Blue, Cyrus, and Giratina during that first visit, though! It’s probably got a note under it that says, “Blue won’t let me challenge the pokemon god of antimatter to a practice battle because he’s mean” under it.
Fortunately for Mewtwo, he’s known Red since the guy was ten, and twenty years has gotten him relatively used to this sort of nonsense. It doesn’t usually follow him home to Viridian or Pallet Town, though, which is why he decided to check in. In regards to Cyrus’s memories, other than the ones he has from Distortion World (which are still pretty scrambled and fractured) onward, Mewtwo can’t actually locate them. He assumes they’re still in there because, if not, Cyrus wouldn’t have arrived on Red’s mountain able to walk, talk, and function, because complete lack of memory would have reduced him to an infantile state where he had to relearn everything from scratch. So he can’t offer to get rid of those memories permanently, because he can’t locate them to do so.
Mewtwo’s still figuring himself out in many ways, especially in regards to how he fits in with the other legendaries of the pokemon world, since he was created in a lab rather than made by Arceus personally. And his first experience with Mew was… not the best first impression. He doesn’t know how similar he really is to other legendary pokemon, how well they’d accept him claiming to be one of them or even just his existence in general. (Going more with the Japanese movie take on Mewtwo and its initial interactions with Mew in regards to characterization, because they’re the ones that interest me more and feel like they fit best with this AU. It’s not a 1:1 ratio of how events played out in this world, they’re more a mush of the movie and the FireRed postgame with a higher percentage of FireRed for what happened and more original Japanese movie for personalities and characterizations.)
…
(quietly considers what it would take to get Mewtwo to have a meet-up with Akari and her Arceus fragment…)
In the meantime, Mewtwo’s probably pretty hesitant to meet Giratina for now, out of understandable caution, and overall is taking the role more of an observer to humanity and pokemon than a more interactive one.
@someoddmix #too bad red missed the action! #but I’m sure cyrus will be happy to introduce them when they meet on the mountain
Red is distraught that he missed the action, absolutely desolate. Blue considerately tells him to get over it, he wouldn’t have been allowed to battle Giritina anyway, stop pouting, you wouldn’t’ve-!!! …why am I expecting dignity from a grown man is a baseball cap, you have no dignity, you are a disgrace, yes I’ll make pasta for you for supper, stop it. Nerd. (affectionate)
Red and Blue both get to be there the first time Cyrus meets Giritina on the mountain! Because Cyrus is excited to properly see his friend again, but he’s also feeling nervous and understandably delicate after having learned the truth of his past, and he wants a bit of supervision for this.
Upon Giritina’s arrival:
Red: (eyes alight with shonen protagonist excitement) (slowly starts to raise a hand with a pokeball in it)
Blue: (without even looking) (calmly pushes Red’s arm back down)
@someoddmix #LMAO YES #‘absolutely desolate’ XD XD XD #‘considerately tells him to get over it’ XD XD XD #I LOVE their dynamic so much!!! #'you are a disgrace YES I’ll make pasta for you’ #nerd (affectionate) #I LOVE THEM #aw I’m glad the supervisions comes from friends #who are also excited to meet your very strong legendary friend #'shonen protagonist excitement’ XD XD XD #pushes his hand back down!!! #freaking love that!!! #maybe giratina will agree to a battle later #for fun!
Thanks, getting on three years in the Ace Attorney fandom has taught me well when it comes to writing rivals who are also very close friends! ^U^ And Cyrus really lucked out in that they’re his friends now, too. :)
Speaking of whom, Cyrus isn’t paying any attention to either of them, he’s looking over Giritina, wait, I don’t remember you having legs? Oh, wait, gravity works differently here, doesn’t it? Yes, then it would be more convenient to have them here - they look very nice. I think… you like scratches, don’t you? I can’t get up there, would you please lean down…?
Red and Blue then have the honour of being the first people in existence other than Cyrus to see Giritina flop over on its side to get the area behind its golden crown-ridge scratched. This goes a long way towards making Blue feel better about the whole situation, because 1) Yeah, Cyrus is still acting like the Cyrus he knows and 2) he’s been friends with Red his whole life, this situation really isn’t that weird to him, Mewtwo still shows up from time to time to raid his tea supply, this isn’t that different. (Yes, this is movie Mewtwo, because I love him. Events here didn’t go down exactly as they did in the movie, but the important thing is that Red and Mewtwo are pals, and Mewtwo also likes Blue well enough.)
Also, fun fact: the reason (in this universe) that Giritina has a mouth in its altered form is so that it can ask for snacks. >U>
@someoddmix #scratchies!!!#oh snacks are VERY important! #aaaaawwww giratina is so cuuute! #blue is like 'oh good it’s like the mewtwo thing’ #i can handle that #yeah mewtwo pals!! #lmao I imagine Giratina’s a bit like #oh a mountain that isnt Mt Coronet? #nice #aaww I bet Cyrus’ pokemon are happy to see Giratina again and vice versa!
Giratina’sfinally found their friend again, life is good! Scratchies! Finally getting to try berries! Head bumps! Getting all that nasty ultra wormhole energy off him so Giratina can easily find their friend again next time they want to visit! Playing with Tiny Pokemon Who Do Not Fear Them! Meeting new people! Enjoying new scenery!
And yeah, Mewtwo’s the most obvious and present force, but Red just has a thing for running into legendaries when he’s out and about - he’s met a good chunk of them, and he’s got the photograph album to prove it! Mewtwo is the main one who tends to visit, though - Red was his first human friend, and Blue’s interesting to talk to (the fact that he studies pokemon but doesn’t experiment on them means that Mewtwo is willing to tolerate the lab coat, but Blue will take it off when he can if Mewtwo’s around).
The first time Mewtwo shows up for a visit after Cyrus’s past is revealed is also the first time he properly meets Cyrus (instead of avoiding him), upon Red and Blue’s request (and slightly Cyrus’s too), just to take a quick look in Cyrus’s head and see what’s going on in there. Since, you know. When you’re friends with the world’s most powerful psychic pokemon, who is also capable of human speech via telepathy, might as well ask, you know? Prior to this, Mewtwo has avoided Cyrus as he tends to avoid most humans - he’s slowly (very slowly) starting to feel somewhat more comfortable around them, but he’s very choosy about who he interacts with. However the whole reason he teleported in this time was because he felt the weird space-time-rift-unquantifiable-thing that happened near his own friends, so he went to check on them. And if Cyrus is involved with that, better meet him, see if he’s okay (see if Mewtwo needs to wipe his mind).
Cyrus is a little startled on meeting Mewtwo for the first time, because he wasn’t told who this ‘expert’ Red and Blue offered to get in touch with for him was exactly (because friends respect friends’ preferences to not let others know the details of their existence if asked), but he’s used to Giratina, so he rolls with it pretty well.
Mewtwo floats over, stares at him for a few minutes, circles him a couple times, then floats over to stare into Cyrus’s ear.
Mewtwo: {I can see daylight.}
Red: (turns to scowl at Blue) You are a terrible influence and this is your fault.
Blue: What I’m hearing is that Mewtwo thinks I’m funnier than you. :3
Red: >:O >:[
A bit more snarking, and Mewtwo clarifies that, yeah, Cyrus’s memories of his life prior to his time in Distortion World seem to just… not be there, or not in a way that Mewtwo can find. He assumes that they’re probably in there somewhere, since Cyrus still all his language skills and can write and make food and other learned skills, but Mewtwo can’t find any way to access them. Which… honestly relieves Cyrus a bit. It makes him feel a bit more secure in the concept that he’s not going to just… wake up someday and be that guy Cynthia told him about again.
After this it turns into more of a regular visit, and Cyrus earns the valuable status of ‘humans Mewtwo is willing to tolerate knowing of his existence.’
Happy Pokemon Day and 25th Anniversary to the series that got me into playing games & drawing! The clone starters have had a special place in my heart ever since I saw the first movie as a young kid- here’s to even more fun memories to come in the future.
Subject:1E1IA is showing her signs of consciousness. It’s development has progressed as planned, no anomalies detected. It shouldn’t be too long now… ’
Those times when you think you’re finally free… and then something else comes up or you’ve forgotten something important! This doodle no doubt represents that…maybe~.
In actuality, this is a just a fun doodle of a Mewtwo character of mine post-making a close escape from her masters…. but not without a… rather large scrape to that freedom plan of hers~.
It’s a baby Mewtwo! It didn’t turn out quite as young as I initially wanted, but still cute. I loved doing its little hands curled up like kitty paws. uwu
