continuity...immortality...consciousness..hu(man)s know thyself

how do we explain continuity...the fact that what i write on a machine is perceived by somebody else's brain on another machine. the fact that i emote when i read a book , which is actually a piece of printed paper.  an illiterate person will not experience these, because his brain does not know language or associations that come with it. An illiterate person perceives, tone of voice, facial expressions. This implies some sort of empathy, continuity mechanism in humans. I am different from my relative say a parent, yet when i am emotionally attached i experience pain when they feel pain. Do children deficient in social skills show the same type of empathy. ? What is the basis of this continuity...this feeling of connectedness with the whole of existence, and also separateness as an individual from the rest.. does the answer lie in our brains and which parts are related to emotion, reasoning and so forth... but then the next question arises what is the reason for "us" that is for anything to exist. at all.. survival...so what... we stay on earth, multiply, die and then...? this explanation gives no "reason/purpose" for existence. why this urge to search for meaning. so when we die-what makes us feel better-that this is my end-my progeny survives and "life" continues, or  according to some philosophies-i will be reborn. in either case the thing that would makes some of  us happy is "the concept of continuity" what is the basis of that and why do i want to believe it. why this urge for immortality over mortality...some well known scientists have "replied" that if they were to live forever, they would be bored.. my question is can we ever know the last thoughts of a person before he/she dies...the answer partly lies in studying the field of "consciousness i.e what makes us aware as humans of our inner and outer worlds" . "No man is an island" as the saying goes.