X-Message-Number: 25304
From: "Valera Retyunin" <>
Subject: To Francois
Date: Mon, 13 Dec 2004 17:13:55 +0300

>In postulate 7, instead of duplicating a human brain, lets duplicate a much
>simpler object, a book. You end up with two books, book1 and book2, in
every
>respect identical. Yet, book1 is not book2 because a copy, however perfect,
>cannot be the original. But, and this is the clear image that has formed in
>my mind, the STORY in both books is the SAME. Not an original and a copy of
>the story, but the SAME story. It matters not an iota that I read the story
>in book1 or in book2, because even though the BOOKS are not the same, the
>STORY they contain is.

From the materialistic perspective the contents of either book are paper and
ink. Thus the contents of one book are NOT the same as the contents of the
other, even if the ink patterns are similar. If a book had material
consciousness, i.e. consciousness as a product or state of its paper and
ink, it would be clearly distinct from the (material) consciousness of any
other book. Duplicating or teletransporting a conscious book would create a
new conscious book. Burning a conscious book would destroy its
consciousness.

>I am therefore completely satisfied that a good enough copying or uploading
>procedure will result in my personal survival, possibly many times over.
For
>the same reason, I would not be afraid to use a StartTrek type teleporter.

You may only survive teletransporting or destructive copying if either (1)
your "self" is immaterial or consists of matter unknown to the current
science, or (2) you are the ultimate altruist and see your personal survival
as the survival of your external qualities (your "STORY") in your copy for
other people, not survival of your inner world.

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