  It is possible to retain the intuitive idea that the weakness of psychological connections between the two selves undermines the authority of the earlier self over the current self without accepting the metaphysical view that the earlier and current self are numerically distinct entities. Suppose we maintain that even the most drastic mental deterioration is not equivalent to death — that the same individual persists through the ravages of Alzheimer's disease. We can still question the continuity of interest between the earlier and current self by examining the concern the earlier and current self would appropriately have for one another (McMahan 2002).