We all have a memory of our past. I’m sure you can summon up, after a little thought, a host of recollections on the order of “On this year/month/birthday here I was, and this is what I was doing.”
Of course the person we see in our memories is not exactly who we are now, but rather a somewhat related entity. If I were to meet my younger self from years ago, I suspect I might be startled by how much my earlier incarnation and I disagree about various things, as well as ways in which our tastes differ.
At some point it will be possible, through advanced computer technology, to create an ongoing in-depth map of the current state of one’s personality. As such techniques mature, it will be possible to measure and to chart the personality drift of a given person over the different times of their life.
I suspect that some people will turn out to have changed radically over time, whereas other will be seen to exhibit a remarkable lack of change through the years.
For the life of me, I can’t figure out which would be better.
I’ve looked at 10 year old posts I’ve made on forums on the internet, and been depressed at the behavior of my former self. Thankfully, I am not that much like that guy anymore 😉
It is so amazing that we change, yet it is so sad that we change.