Who am I—Honest Version

May 23, 2026   |    76

I am a member of the species Homo sapiens. I am a living body made of some complex molecules. These molecules individually are not alive. However, for some reason, I am alive. But it is not as simple as you might think it is.

Let me start from the beginning. Once upon a time, I was a single cell — a fertilised egg inside my mother’s womb. That cell divided numerous times to create the current version of me — a 72 kg adult male. Each of my cells is made up of merely non-living entities like sugar, acid, base, fats, etc. They are often called the building blocks. But I find this analogy rather inappropriate. Our body is not like a building. Once a building is completed, all the bricks inside it remain the same (unless someone performs an expensive structural remodelling). In contrast, the building blocks inside our cells are constantly getting replaced, altered, salvaged; although the individual cells retain their unique identity. So, biochemically speaking, we are a constantly evolving combination of molecules whose half-life is shorter than the individual they belong to. 

The bits that make us today are very different from what they used to be 10 years ago. Therefore, my physical self is constantly changing. And my thoughts are not so different either. 

About a decade ago, I was working as a manager in a startup in Dhaka, Bangladesh. I used to introduce myself as an extroverted person. I was leading a team of 30 people and thriving in a complex web of human interactions. Today, I am working as a scientist in Oxford, UK, who finds more solace in the company of mice and dogs than his fellow species. I grew up in a city of 22 million people, but I am writing this article today peacefully sitting on an empty cliff in the Cornish coastline. What I used to think, love, and appreciate a decade ago has shifted dramatically with time. Imagination is thought to be a unique nature of Homo sapiens, and my imagination (i.e. my uniqueness) is constantly getting a firmware update. 

To summarise, my thoughts are changing constantly along with the molecules of my body that make me myself. Hence, the question — who am I?

I am merely a space. This space harbours a lot of cells which are made up of billions of molecules where trillions of biochemical reactions take place. I feel certain emotions due to a cocktail of hormones flowing through this space resulting in my thoughts. I am not my thoughts. I am the space that facilitates the mere formation of them. The fact that I occupy a space is the only thing that is constant about me. The cells and thoughts inside this space are just temporary residents. 

You might be feeling a little disorientated at this point. This was very much intentional. Here is the relief part—Because we are just landlords of the space that accommodates the biochemical and electromagnetic reactions within us, our true identity is not the photograph in our driving licence or the political identity we currently adhere to. Everything you are today and you think today can be either amazing or meaningless. But neither outcome would be a success or a failure. You are just the space where events associated with success or failure takes place. You are the unique observer of a combination of molecules going through time experiencing success, failure, love, hatred, betrayal, and all kinds of pulses. Therefore, you can neither be successful nor a failure.

This is the best realisation I have had in a while. This is my birthday present to myself. Happy Birthday, Shamir (whoever that is).