X-Message-Number: 14790 From: "Pat Clancy" <> Date: Sun, 29 Oct 2000 00:15:37 -0700 Subject: Re: Why a Person is not a Thing > The situation is somewhat the same as in The Ship of Theseus, > and if a person is still functioning in our society after > entire replacement, and seems in no way changed, would you > really have the nerve to insist to the creature that in > reality he or she no longer lived? > > Lee Corbin Well I've been lurking on this list for years, but since this is one of my favorite subjects I compelled to butt in... I don't have a strong opinion on "pattern vs. thing", but here's a simple thought experiment to me supports "thing". Suppose you have a matter duplicator, ala the Transporter from Star Trek. It can instantly duplicate the complete structure of a person, down to the sub-atomic structure. (Of course, given quantum mechanics, you'd have to say that's impossible, but it's a thought experiment after all. Although maybe that's an important part of the "answer".) In addition suppose it has a switch with 2 positions: "destructive" and "non-destructive". The "destructive" position is equivalent to the Transporter - the original disappears as the copy is created. In that case you might feel OK about stepping into the machine, i.e. you'd feel like that's _you_ that appears at the destination. After all it is an _exact_ copy that appears when the original disappears, and one electron/proton/gluon/whatever is _exactly_ like another one. However, when the swtich is flipped to "non-destructive", the original is not destroyed. Now you will clearly feel that the original is _you_, and the copy is not you. Of course the copy will feel that it is you also. But, to me, if I step into the machine, the original and real _me_ is and remains the one that stepped into the machine and not the other one. Well I've never been able to come up with a good resolution to this, but my interim feeling is that I wouldn't get into the Transporter, because the non- destructive option shows that _thing_ that is _me_ is not the same as the thing that is the copy of me. However I strongly hope I'm wrong because I'd really like to think that uploading of consciousness and all that neat stuff is possible in theory. Pat Clancy Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=14790