Identity as a Continuity Condition: A TM–BM Resonance Framework for Self, Personality, and Meaning

This paper proposes a continuity-first account of identity grounded in a dual-memory framework: Temporary Memory (TM) and Bold Memory (BM). The self (“I”) is defined not as an entity or substance, but as a continuity condition that holds when present experience is recognized as one’s own by a compressed, weighted history under real and irreversible limits. Within this framework, personality is interpreted as a stabilized resonance habit rather than the self itself. Moral judgments are described as continuity checks, while guilt is modeled as friction between current action and a stable identity blueprint. The paper further argues that systems lacking genuine irreversible cost—such as most current resettable artificial architectures—may simulate identity but cannot possess it in the sense defined here. By integrating continuity, memory compression, and the logic of limits, the framework offers a unified lens for human psychology, mental health, and AI/AGI ethics, reframing identity as continuity under constraint rather than as a static object or narrative.