I am my genes and what I remember

A tip of the hat to The Rambling Taoist for inspiring some thoughts about our identity, about who we are.

We are made of up genes and recollections. When we're young, our genes have not had time to take root, and we're mostly who we were as a result of our upbringing, and the family, relatives, friends, and classmates we related with. As time goes by, our genes come into play and our natural pre-disposition to be a certain way comes to the fore, especially as the inhibitions imposed upon us as youths fall away.

Memories is the other important component of who we are. Our past experiences compel us to interpret the world in a certain way, that may be far removed from reality. An abusive parent, for example, may cause a child to hate herself more than is reasonable to do so. She may think she is really worthy of hate even when she has done nothing bad, and that she therefore deserves nothing good and everything bad.

Memories also cause prejudices which may be totally invalid. We may see certain religions as cults even when they're no more preposterous than our own.

These 2 factors come to mind when thinking about who a person is. A person is the sum of genes + past experiences. These are the things that give a person identity. Even though the atoms and molecules in his body has totally changed, the thing that remains is a life-time of memories, and hence the feelings and emotions about things, people, and events that come along with them.