--- On Tue, 2/10/09, Brent Meeker <meeke...@dslextreme.com> wrote: > >>> 2) If the data saved to the disk is only based on A1> (e.g. discarding > >>> any errors that A2 might have made) then one could say that A1 is the > >>> same person as B, while A2 is not. This is causal differentiation. > >> > >> Yes, but I'm assuming A1 and A2 have identical content. > > > > That actually doesn't matter - causation is > defined in terms of counterfactuals. If - then, considering > what happens at that moment of saving the data. If x=1 and > y=1, and I copy the contents of x to z, that is not the same > causal relationship as if I had copied y to z. > > Isn't that making the causal chain essential to the experience; contrary to > the idea that the "stream of consciousness" is just the computation? The > causal chain is not part of the computation, A1 and A2 could be implemented > by different physics and hence different causation.
--- On Tue, 2/10/09, russell standish <li...@hpcoders.com.au> wrote: > But surely the counterfactuals are the same in each case too? In which case > it is the same causal relationship. We're talking computations here, each > computation will respond identically to the same counterfactual input. I believe you both are taking what I wrote out of context. Sorry if I was not clear. In the above I was talking about the moment at which the data is saved, from either A1 or A2, when making the transition to B in the thought experiment. BTW, causation (sensitivity to counterfactuals) is part of the criteria for an implementation of a computation. So in that sense causation is essential to the experience. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To post to this group, send email to everything-l...@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---