Self-Preservation

How many kinds of entities struggle to preserve themselves? -

organisms;
governments;
regimes;
ways of life;
ideas;
thought processes;
beliefs;
self-images;
timelines?

"It's as if this warped continuum were defending its existence - reaching through Lorenzo, who begot it, beyond his grave to us."
-Poul Anderson, The Shield Of Time (New York, 1991), Part Six, 1245beta A.D., p. 410.

Minimally, memory is the thought, "I saw/sensed/perceived that before." If a past experience is merely reproduced in imagination but is not also recognized as a past experience of this present subject, "I," then it is indistinguishable from a mere imagining. Thus, present memory, which is necessary for continuity of consciousness, requires the present application of the concept of a temporally enduring subject, "I." However, there is not necessarily any enduring entity corresponding to this concept and, indeed, each sentient organism begins, changes and ends, like a candle flame that seems to be continuous but that in fact burns different wax at each moment. Nevertheless, the biological motivation to preserve the organism is transferred to the conceptual self.