Imagine this.
You have a blank sheet of paper in front of you. Pick it up, crumple it in your hands, and knead it repeatedly.
Then smooth it out and lay it on the table. What do you see?
A mass of random creases, perhaps resembling doodles, or perhaps the root system of a plant.
Now, take another sheet of paper and repeat the same process.
Lay the two sheets flat on the table. Naturally, the creases formed during this process are entirely different.
These wrinkles, through this process, give each sheet of paper its unique characteristics.
If the paper had consciousness, how would it think?
Look, our experiences in this world make us so different. This is you. This is me.
Now, suppose we recycle the two sheets of paper, break them down, and turn them into pulp to make two new blank sheets.
Would they still remember the unique wrinkles they once had?
Would they still recognize their previous distinct experiences?