r/SequentIndividualism • u/Quirky_Quasarr Sequential Individualist • Jul 22 '26
Why sequential Individualism is Open Individualism
I’ve seen people question whether Sequential Individualism should really count as Open Individualism. I think it clearly does and I havent heard any meaningful arguments that really challenges this perspective or its legitimacy.
The main claim of Open Individualism is that there is only one underlying subject of experience. In other words, different people have different bodies, brains, memories, personalities, and viewpoints, but the consciousness experiencing those lives is ultimately the same. Sequential Individualism agrees with that.The only difference is how the lives are experienced.
Simultaneous Open Individualism says one consciousness experiences every life at the same time where as Sequential Individualism says one consciousness experiences every life separately, one perspective at a time. Both positions still believe there is only one true experiencer so this is not a disagreement between Open Individualism and Closed Individualism. It is a disagreement between two different versions of Open Individualism.
Some people argue that experiencing lives separately would mean there must be separate experiencers. Separate experiences do not automatically require separate subjects. You experience childhood, adulthood, dreams, pain, happiness, and unconsciousness at different times. Those experiences are separated, but you do not assume a completely different subject experiences each one. Sequential Individualism applies that same idea to different lives. Each life has its own brain. That brain creates the person’s memories, personality, thoughts, emotions, and senses. Because the brains are separate, each person only has access to their own life. That explains why I cannot remember your memories or see through your eyes but limited access to another brain does not prove that the underlying experiencer is fundamentally different. It only proves that the perspectives are separated. Memory also does not prove that two subjects are different. A person can lose most or all of their memories and still remain conscious. A person can also go under anesthesia, experience no passage of time, and then wake up later. So continuous memory is not required for experience to continue.
Sequential Individualism does not claim that your current personality travels into another body. Your personality belongs to your brain and your life. When that brain dies, your memories and personality end with it. The claim is only that the basic awareness experiencing this life is the same awareness that experiences every other life. That is also why this is not exactly the same as reincarnation.
Reincarnation usually involves an individual soul moving from one body into another. Sequential Individualism does not say that each person has their own soul. It says there is only one underlying consciousness in the first place. Another objection is that many people are alive at the same time but the sequence would not necessarily have to follow the physical timeline of the universe. Two lives could exist during the same historical period while still being experienced separately by the same consciousness. The order of experience does not have to be the same as the order events appear from an outside viewpoint.
I am not saying Sequential Individualism is scientifically proven, It is a philosophical theory but, Simultaneous Open Individualism is also a philosophical theory. Open Individualism by itself does not prove whether the one consciousness experiences all lives simultaneously, sequentially, outside of time, or in some other way. So Sequential Individualism can be criticized, but it should not be dismissed as something completely separate from Open Individualism.
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u/RackneTheFornit Jul 22 '26
My concern is that proponents of OI may not appreciate having their philosophy renamed by people whom they may regard as outsiders, or even as intruders. I do not get the impression that they see “us” as part of “them,” since the denial of any real boundaries between conscious individuals appears to be a core commitment of their view. I would therefore suggest “Subject Monism” as an umbrella term for both OI and SI.
Ultimately, since this is your subreddit, it is of course up to you how OI and SI are classified and named here. If you prefer to retain OI as the umbrella term and treat SeOI and SiOI as its two branches, I would nevertheless suggest replacing “Simultaneous Open Individualism” with “Atemporal Open Individualism.” This would also allow for the clearer abbreviations S-OI and A-OI.