X-Message-Number: 14710 Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2000 20:10:02 -0700 From: Lee Corbin <> Subject: Natasha's Answer >Natasha Vita-More wrote, in Message #14696, >>If you choose to shoot the duplicate, either you do >>not believe the duplicate is you, or you are not sure. > >The cornerstone would be that I don't want to kill another person. Hi Natasha! You're absolutely right. It will repay all of us in the long run, to nourish as much as we possibly can our regard for others (including ourselves). The somewhat gentler version of this puzzle that I always bring up is, whether you would choose the disintegration of your frozen duplicate or the disintegration of yourself, if those were the only choices available and --- choosing your duplicate results in he or she (that is, you) getting some big reward, like a lot of money. I would empathize a lot, however, if you would still refuse to entertain this stark choice. Proper philosophy is about prescription for action. Indeed, the right action probably would be to reject this choice. (Of course, Dave and I put these questions forward only to help investigate a conceptual question.) But let me illustrate the moral concern that you have raised with another story: Suppose that in some awful future, the last truck leaving Phoenix has room for only four dewars. But there still remain five frozen patients who need rescue. Who should be left behind? The most recently signed up? The eldest? The youngest? The correct answer to this question, is, WE WILL FIND A WAY TO TAKE ALL FIVE. PERIOD. (In the same way, I would find a way to keep as many instantiations of myself alive as I could.) Lee Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=14710