--- rwas rwas <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I had proposed an experiment very similar to a > friend > some years back concerning identity and > consciousness. > > We start with a machine that can download, upload, > and > run consciousness. It can also manipulate the > functioning of the brain of the person strapped into > it. > > So we take one of you and put you in the chair. You > sit there ready to observe. We shut you down and > download your consciousness. We awaken you in the > machine. > > Where is your awareness of self? This is not you > observing someone else with consciousness. The > object > is to track *your* awareness of self. > > Now we reawaken the you still in human form in the > chair. Which one do you perceive out of now? The > computer or the human form? > > There is no memory or information to make you aware > of > your alternate self. An external observer would see > two of you operating your consciousness. But you as > the subject would experience what? > > Most people I try this one follow along that their > awareness would be in one system or the other. They > would perceive being one place or the other. Then I > say: now you're both operating, which one are you? > > Most people say both after a time. I say: but how > can > you be aware in two places at one with no > communication between systems. They start to get mad > at this point and degrade into treating the two > separate systems from an external observer's view > point. > > Another issue one can experiment with is memory. If > we > assume that consciousness can be viewed as frames, > ie., like frames of a movie film, we should be able > to > stop and start the consciousness of the entity now > in > the machine. We can control the frame-rate as it > were. > The entity should not be able to tell. If they could > observe external events, they'd see the clock on the > wall move very fast if we slowed his frame-rate > down. > So if we assume all this, then we must assume that > he > only knows who he is based on memory of self from > one > frame to the next. If we replay one frame of > consciousness over and over again, his consciousness > will not evolve from a given starting point. If we > then assume this memory model of consciousness, we > might be able to manipulate this memory. We could in > effect change his identity at will. With out the > ability to compare frames of his own consciousness, > the entity in the machine should not be able to > determine that his identity had changed. > > If we apply this concept to all humans, we could say > we are just living in one big machine. We could say > that our identities are subject to our memories, for > which we have no control over. We could say we have > no > way of knowing if our reality had changed moments > ago > from something else very different.... > > > Robert W. > > > --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > Wei writes: > > > If you don't think this is paradoxical, suppose > we > > repeat the choice but > > > with the payoffs for button 2 reversed, so that > > Bob wins $10 instead of > > > Alice, and we also swap the two minds so that > > Alice is running on the > > > substrate that generates more measure instead of > > Bob. They'll again both > > > push button 1. But notice that at the end both > > people would have been > > > better off if they pushed button 2 in both > rounds. > > > > Maybe you could argue that if they had known ahead > > of time what was > > going to happen, they would push button 2. > > > > For example, Alice would know that her measure was > > going to be first > > low, then high. Therefore whatever wealth she > gains > > while her measure > > is low will be boosted while her measure was high. > > > This makes it > > more important to gain wealth during low measure > > times than it would > > have been if she didn't know about the upcoming > > measure-boost. > > > > Hal > > > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Get email at your own domain with Yahoo! Mail. > http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ >
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