From: Charles Hixson (charleshixsn@earthlink.net)
Date: Sat Feb 28 2009 - 21:45:38 MST
Matt Mahoney wrote:
> --- On Sat, 2/28/09, Charles Hixson <charleshixsn@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>
>>>> So the question becomes "How great a deviation is allowable
>>>> without considering the entity to be a new person?"
>>>>
>>>>
>>> That is a question about your belief in consciousness.
>>>
>> The important consideration is to kill the original so there
>> can be no debate about which copy is you.
>>
>>> -- Matt Mahoney, matmahoney@yahoo.com
>>>
>>>
>> ???
>> I don't see how that follows. Why couldn't they both be me? I, in the
>> past, would certainly consider that they, in the future, were both me.
>> And I would strenuously object to any procedure that would kill either
>> of them.
>>
>
> How is making a copy of yourself and killing one of the copies any different than not making a copy in the first place?
>
> Yeah I know it seems different. You think you wouldn't step into a teleporter that you know will slowly crush you to death, but after you have done it hundreds of times you will overcome your fear and conclude there is no difference.
>
> -- Matt Mahoney, matmahoney@yahoo.com
>
>
>
You seem to be announcing yourself as the kind of person that can't even
be trusted by himself. I don't think I'd do it the first time, so I
doubt I'd ever get used to it. (Yes, I can imagine extraordinary
circumstances that would compel me to use such a machine. I would
strive strongly to avoid them. That's the kind of situation where I'd
consider killing someone else to be self-defense.
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