[aakresearch]

From my perspective, this is what happens every night when I go to sleep. I may well "not exist" for the duration of the night. The whole connection from me-today to me-yesterday is my memory. Even the concept of physical continuation of the body (and every other belief, spiritual or materialistic) may be the induced memory. The only thing that help keep the fear of sleeping (effectively, dying) at bay is confidence that tomorrow large chunk of my today's memory will exist. And from this perspective, it doesn't matter whether this memory is bound to the single physical body or spread in the community.

[jemmyw]

That's not a bad way to think about it, although I don't see any need to invoke community. Asimov: "There is nothing frightening about an eternal dreamless sleep. Surely it is better than eternal torment in Hell and eternal boredom in Heaven."