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RE: A physical argument for an afterlife
March 15, 2015 at 8:05 am
(March 15, 2015 at 3:12 am)Alex K Wrote: (March 14, 2015 at 11:19 pm)Jenny A Wrote: That's pretty much it. It might make my nearest and dearest happier, but it wouldn't do anything for me personally. I'd be gone, gone, gone.
The you from yesterday might have suffered the same fate, and you might be going to as well, in a moment. Who says there is now the type of personal continuity we desire , without uploading or duplicating. Is it a testable notion whether this continuity of the self as you desire it even exists?
Good point. I don't see the difference between a person losing and regaining consciousness and the person undergoing the Star Trek version of teleportation.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
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RE: A physical argument for an afterlife
March 15, 2015 at 8:16 am
Wow, sounds like I need to get myself copyrighted!
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RE: A physical argument for an afterlife
March 15, 2015 at 10:22 am
(March 14, 2015 at 11:28 pm)vorlon13 Wrote: (March 14, 2015 at 8:44 pm)Jenny A Wrote: This reminds me of an old argument. In Star Trek a transporter reduces people to atoms on the ship and reassembles them from atoms on a planet or elsewhere. The question is, were they really transported, or did the transporter kill one person on the ship and create an identical person on the planet. I'd argue the later. It's not immortality, just rebirth of a duplicate. And I'd no more step into the transporter room than allow myself to be killed to create a clone of myself.
There was an episode of the re-booted Outer Limits (mid 90s as I recall) that explored that idea more fully.
Interstellar travel is done via perfectly duplicating a person elsewhere and destroying the original that 'stayed home'.
It was a pretty chilling thing to contemplate. There is a book that delves into the different aspects of "I". The book is " Is Data Human?". It deals with, can a robot really achieve awareness. Transporter technology and various other technology is discussed.
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RE: A physical argument for an afterlife
March 15, 2015 at 11:38 am
(March 15, 2015 at 8:16 am)robvalue Wrote: Wow, sounds like I need to get myself copyrighted!
Sure, you can do that, but people will just download you via BitTorrent instead...
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
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RE: A physical argument for an afterlife
March 15, 2015 at 2:13 pm
That sounds painful :o
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RE: A physical argument for an afterlife
March 15, 2015 at 2:53 pm
(This post was last modified: March 15, 2015 at 3:04 pm by Jenny A.)
(March 15, 2015 at 3:12 am)Alex K Wrote: (March 14, 2015 at 11:19 pm)Jenny A Wrote: That's pretty much it. It might make my nearest and dearest happier, but it wouldn't do anything for me personally. I'd be gone, gone, gone.
The you from yesterday might have suffered the same fate, and you might be going to as well, in a moment. Who says there is now the type of personal continuity we desire , without uploading or duplicating. Is it a testable notion whether this continuity of the self as you desire it even exists?
I doubt very much that my notion of continuity of self is testable. What would be the difference from the outside between me, and an exact replica of me with all my memories? So, no, I can't be truly certain of that continuity. But, I'm pretty certain that there would be no continuity between me and a replica of me.
Start asking what me is, and things get more complicated. Look at what we know of how the brain works and finding a unified me at all gets sketchy.
If there is a god, I want to believe that there is a god. If there is not a god, I want to believe that there is no god.
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RE: A physical argument for an afterlife
March 15, 2015 at 2:56 pm
(March 15, 2015 at 2:53 pm)Jenny A Wrote: (March 15, 2015 at 3:12 am)Alex K Wrote: The you from yesterday might have suffered the same fate, and you might be going to as well, in a moment. Who says there is now the type of personal continuity we desire , without uploading or duplicating. Is it a testable notion whether this continuity of the self as you desire it even exists?
I doubt very much that my notion of continuity of self is testable. What would be the difference from the outside between me, and an exact replica of me with all my memories. So, no, I can't be truly certain of that continuity. But, I'm pretty certain that there would be no continuity between me and a replica of me.
Yeah yeah, you're just following the old wisdom "In case of doubt, err on the side of not getting atomized". I totally get that 
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14, KJV revised edition
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