On Tue, Feb 19, 2013 at 4:02 PM, Quentin Anciaux <allco...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > 2013/2/19 Jason Resch <jasonre...@gmail.com> > >> >> >> On Tue, Feb 19, 2013 at 3:39 PM, meekerdb <meeke...@verizon.net> wrote: >> >>> On 2/18/2013 10:49 PM, Jason Resch wrote: >>> >>> 6. Swapping places with someone: In 5 seconds, your mind and >>> consciousness will swap with that of some rich and famous person. Let's >>> say Bill Gates. I hope you are ready. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. The swap is >>> complete. Bill Gates is now in your body, with access to your memories and >>> living as you were just before you got to reading this sentence, while you >>> are living as a billionaire and enjoying Bills bank account. Of course, >>> while you are in his body you only have access to his memories. Not only >>> does his wife not notice the switch, but you don't even notice it. You >>> only have access to Bill's memories now so you do not realize anything is >>> awry. Don't worry, everything will be set back how it was, in 3. 2. 1. >>> Welcome back. How was it? Of course, you don't remember. Fortunately, Bill >>> was nice enough to read the last few sentences for you and now they have >>> been placed into your memory. This shows it is meaningless to say "I wish >>> I could live as X", or "experience a day in Y's shoes". For all you know, >>> you already are, have, and will. >>> >>> >>> This, if true, only shows that "you" and "Bill Gates" don't exist apart >>> from your bodies and memories, so that it is nonsense to talk of exchanging >>> bodies and memories. >>> >> >> We agree it is nonsense. >> >> >>> For it to make sense there would have to be a "you" soul and a "Bill >>> Gates" soul that switched. >>> >> >> Okay, if no soul involved, then by what means can we talk of you at T1 >> and you at T2, when the two are different in terms of memories and material? >> > > Causality ? The you at T1 and the you at T2 are causally linked. > Causality links many things to you, and you to many things, which you wouldn't normally associate with yourself. I don't think causality alone can serve as a theory of personal identity. A theory of personal identity needs to define the boundaries of a person, and answer questions such as which experiences can be ascribed to a given person. You could trace causality backwards and find that the big bang caused you, but that doesn't mean you are the big bang. Likewise, you could make a fancy dinner (which you caused) but the fancy dinner is not you. I think causally linked might be a requirement but by itself it is too general to delineate an individual. Jason -- 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 http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
