On 25 April 2015 at 05:52, Dennis Ochei <[email protected]> wrote:
> Here's the clincher. > > 1. Suppose I erase my body's memories after. Do I go to jail? > This one counts as suicide - presumably you are left as a vegetable if you erase your memory. However, if you only erase the memory of committing the crime (plus, say, the events that led up to it) then it's more problematic (!) - not to mention fun for the SF writer. This one still falls into my "catch number 2", as mentioned above - you are still a danger to society, and we can prove it! > > 2. Suppose I erase the memories of this body. I find another body (say a > laboratory synthesized one with no memories) and download my memories onto > it. Does the new body go to jail? > I'd say yes. I'm assuming we aren't worrying about whether jail is the right punishment, whether you have free will, and so on - just judging the situation on its merits within existing laws and assumptions. > > 3. I commit a crime and then a buddy of mine, who had no knowledge of the > crime decides he wants to experience my memories. He downloads the entirety > of my memories while retaining his own. Does he go to jail? > Not unless having your memories somehow makes him more likely to commit the crime himself, in which case he could in theory fall foul of catch-2 (above). > > 4. I commit a crime, then I kidnap someone and forcibly download their > memories onto my brain, retaining my own. I then delete their memories. > Memory transfer technology is at such a stage that it is not possible to > transfer or delete selected memories. So it is impossible to remove my > memories without removing my victim's. Do I go to jail? > For kidnapping and forcibly copying memories and for murdering the original owner of the memories (by deleting them from his original body) - yes. > > 5. I commit a crime, then I kidnap someone and forcibly download my > memories onto their brain, without erasing theirs. I then delete my > memories. Memory transfer technology is at such a stage that it is not > possible to transfer or delete selected memories. So it is impossible to > remove my memories without removing my victim's. Does my kidnapped victim > go to jail? > No, they aren't responsible for what you did to them. Unless your memories somehow turn them into you (more fun for the SF writer!) > > At first glance, you want to say no to 1, but then someone could just > backup their memories, leave themselves a note on where to restore them, > and then waltz out of the country. Reminds me a bit of the anime Death Note. > (Not to mention "Memento". PKD has a lot to answer for.) > > You want to say yes to 2, but that seems to entail saying yes to 3-5, and > you really don't wanna say yes to 5. Even of you evade that entailment it > seems your answers to 3-5 have to be the same > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
