Am I the sum of my output, or am I the source of my output? The latter seems obvious, but there is reason to consider the former. It is difficult to be the source if I am confined to the present tense. Because what is becomes what was, so that what is, is necessarily generated at a moment that is identical to my present tense existence.
One may say that this only means the source expressed in a finite instance of its output. But without clear continuity between what was and what is, it becomes difficult to provide any sum other than the sum of one if we let one represent the single instance of my expression. This becomes even more difficult when we consider the fact that by the moment I can reflect on an instance, I am already reflecting on its passing and within its passing. What is the length of the single instance of the present tense? It may be possible to argue that it is the most finite of all expressions. If this is so, how finite is this one?
In a sense, I am arguing between my life as the sum of a set theory and my life as the single instance within the set. If it represents the single instance, then there may be a third way: My life may be identical. It may be a unity of source and output, and this unity may be expressed in the single most particular instance in the present. This implies many possibilities. Most of all, it implies a stunning freedom that exceeds even that described by Sartre. If it describes this freedom, it also implies the sheer and utter loneliness of individual existence.
