> I > don't believe that the being that results, while itself thinking that > it is the same "I" as me, will be. It can't be, as a dicontinuity has > occured--"I" might even have lived a while after the "copy" was > stored. So, even though my thoughts might go on, and something that > thinks it's me goes on as if it was me, the truth is that "I"--the me > that is behind my eyes-- is dead. >
My favorite thought experiment on this topic is the one of malfunctioning Star Trek transporter... your original body/brain gets scanned, transmitted and reconstituted. The original fails to be destroyed (assuming non-destructive read/scan)... now there are two.. .neither is neccesarily aware of the other... in theory, both feel like the original... I don't believe this technology is likely to occur before we become (somehow) sophisticated enough to not want to or care to do such things... for other reasons... ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
