Quentin Anciaux writes:
> Hi Stathis, > > Le Vendredi 27 Octobre 2006 12:16, Stathis Papaioannou a écrit : > > Here is another thought experiment. You are watching an object moving > > against a stationary background at a velocity of 10 m/s. Suddenly, the > > object seems to instantly jump 10 metres in the direction of motion, and > > then continues as before at 10 m/s. You are informed that one of the > > following three events has taken place: > > > > (a) your consciousness was suspended for 1 second, as in an absence > > seizure; > > > > (b) you were scanned, annihilated, and a perfect copy created in your place > > 1 second later; > > > > (c) nothing unusual happened to you, but the object you were watching was > > instantly teleported 10 metres in the direction of motion. > > > > Would you be able to guess which of the three events took place? > > > > Stathis Papaioannou > > The problem with these kind of thoughts experiments is that we don't know how > consciousness "works", we don't know if we can make a "perfect copy", we > can't know (currently) if such a copy would be conscious as we don't know how > conscious experience arise. Taking the premises of the problem you gave, it > is impossible to give a (right) answer (if there is one...). You presupose > too much on what is consciousness and how it works (not that it is a bad > thing, but I think these examples won't convince someone who have not the > same view on you about what is consciousness and how it works). I don't think the example I gave depends on detailed understanding of how consciousness works. The point I was trying to make is that it is not possible to guess the correct answer as your conscious experience would be exactly the same in each case. We could probably actually *do* the experiment with options (a) and (c) (the teleportation is not essential). We can't do (b) at present, but it seems obvious to me that whatever the complex details of the neurophysiology of consciousness, (b) would be indistinguishable from (a) unless you invoke something like a soul, for which there is no evidence. Stathis Papaioannou _________________________________________________________________ Be one of the first to try Windows Live Mail. http://ideas.live.com/programpage.aspx?versionId=5d21c51a-b161-4314-9b0e-4911fb2b2e6d --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
