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... Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=20915