X-Message-Number: 20915
Date: Sat, 18 Jan 2003 16:56:48 -0500
From: Stephen Ritger <>
Subject: Copies and Consciousness
References: <>

The way I see it, if I was put under anesthesia, and an exact copy of me 
was created, and then I was disposed of and my copy awakened, my copy 
would be me to EVERYONE ELSE, but not to ME, because the original me 
would be GONE.  To put it another way, the very first time Captain 
Picard stepped into a transporter, he was killed, and an exact duplicate 
of him was created at the beaming destination.  To everyone else, the 
beamed Picard is still Picard, because he thinks, acts, and looks just 
like the Picard that stepped into the transporter just a moment earlier, 
but the life and stream of consciousness of the "original" Picard has 
ended forever.  Lather, rinse, repeat...

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