On Fri, 28 Jul 2017 at 5:36 am, John Clark <johnkcl...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Thu, Jul 27, 2017 at 12:54 PM, <stath...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > >> I know that, barring disaster, tomorrow there will be a person with the >> general attributes, memories, and so on of the person writing this sentence. >> > > Yes. > > > >> > >> Because of the nature of human psychology, I consider that that person >> will be "me", >> > > Fine but always remember "me" is just a word but the person writing > this sentence is more than a word. > > >> > >> the same person as I am now, projected into the future, >> > > It won't be exactly the same person, > Stathis Papaioannou > of tomorrow will have all of "your" memories but in addition will have > other memories that "you" do not have. So treat all personal pronouns with > suspicion. > > > >> and so selfishly make provisions for him: make sure there is milk in the >> fridge, lock the door so no-one breaks in, avoid spending all the money in >> my bank account. >> > > All those activities help insure that tomorrow there will be at least > one individual > (more would be fine) > who > remembers being > Stathis Papaioannou > today. > > >> > >> If I knew I was going to be duplicated so that tomorrow there would be >> two versions of me in different cities, then I (the person writing this >> now) would behave as if there were a 1/2 probability that I would end up in >> one or other city. >> > > You're free to act as you like. I wouldn't behave that way but there is > no disputing matters of taste. B > ut I thought we were talking about the nature of reality not the likes, > dislikes, and superstitions of individuals. > > The objective facts (how many copies where) are not being disputed by anyone in this prolonged discussion. I know that tomorrow morning someone who looks like me, has my memories and so on will probably wake up in my bed. As you point out above, he will differ from me in a number if ways; but even if he did not, why should I care about him? The answer is that is how our brains have evolved to think, so this discussion *is* in fact about our likes, dislikes and superstitions. > >> If I knew I would be duplicated 1000 times in city A and once in city B, >> I (the person writing this now) would behave as if I were 1000 times more >> likely to end up in A than B, and make plans accordingly. >> >> What would you (the person reading this now) do under these circumstances? >> > > For me that would depend entirely on how up to date the copy is, > > if the copy were made right now I wouldn't mind being blown up in a bomb > right now. So how long is now? About a second, maybe 2, whatever is less > time than would be needed to have a last thought because having a last > thought is the thing I personally don't like about death. That's probably > because I don't have thoughts I am thoughts, "I" is a specific sequence of > thoughts. > So you agree you could survive if the original was destroyed and a copy made, but the question is how to calculate the probability of ending up a particular copy when multiple copies were made. You have stated repeatedly that the question is nonsensical, but you haven't answered what you would actually do in the example I gave: you will be copied to two cities, 1000 copies in A and 1 copy in B, and the original instantly destroyed. You have the option prior to the duplication of arranging for (i) a reward for the 1000 copies that will be created in A, or (ii) the 1 copy that will be created in B, or (iii) none of the copies - the reward being given to a charity of your choice instead. Your answer to this question, I claim, will be an indication of your beliefs about where you are likely to end up as a result of the copying process. -- 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 everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
