Music... immerses us in seemingly stable worlds! How can this be, when there is so little of it present at each moment? - Marvin Minsky

Old answers never perfectly suit new questions, except in the most formal, logical circumstances.

Changing the states of many agents grossly alters behavior, while changing only a few just perturbs the overall disposition a little.

One's present personality cannot share all the thoughts of one's older personalities — and yet it has some sense that they exist. This is one reason why we feel that we possess an inner Self — a sort of ever-present person-friend, inside the mind, whom we can always ask for help.