On Monday, September 17, 2012 6:18:00 PM UTC-4, Jason wrote: > > > > Craig, > > Do you think if your brain were cut in half, but then perfectly put back > together that you would still be conscious in the same way? >
There is no such thing as perfectly put back together. If you cut a living cell in half, it dies. The only way of putting it perfectly back together is to travel back in time and not cut it in half. > > What if cut into a thousand pieces and put back together perfectly? > Same answer. > > What if every atom was taken apart and put back together? > If you could take every atom in a living cell 'apart' and put it back together without killing the cell, then it seems like it would work, but I don't think that the cells would necessarily be 'the same' cells. To me consciousness is an event in time, not a structure in space. The structure is the vehicle of the event. If you mess with the vehicle, you mess with the event. > > What if every atom was taken apart, and then atoms from a different pile > were used to put you back together? > When the atoms are taken apart, you die. If you put them together in what you think is the same way, it is still a different performance of atoms, whether they are the same or different. > > What then if the original atoms were put back, would they both experience > what it is like to be you? > No. > > Does the identity of one's atoms matter or are they interchangable? If > the identity is not what matters, what is it that does? > Our atoms are replaced all the time. Our identity exists at the level of our experience as a whole. The experience of our body, our family, culture, etc. We are a lifetime that uses the whole brain as a way to participate in the human world as a human body. Experience is what matters. Craig > > Jason > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/everything-list/-/z123_FMESkIJ. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en.
