X-Message-Number: 9219
Date:  Fri, 27 Feb 98 16:56:22 
From: Mike Perry <>
Subject: Re: CryoNet #9209

Rafi Haftka writes,

> I hope to be alive in the year 11998, and:
> 
> 1. While I may be ABLE to access some of my present memories, I expect that
> I will not want to access them.
> 2. The implicit memories that guide my everyday behavior are likely to have
> almost zero content from the 20th century.
> 3. I expect to deliberately change my personality (by changing some of my
> genes, if I am still protoplasm based) to get rid of traits I do not like
> in myself. For example, I plan to make myself more outgoing.
> 4. I expect to experiment with a variety of physical appearances, and I
> expect that I will not even remember how I look today.

One thought is that 10,000 years is a LONG time to project 
into the future, especially in view of your concern with "a variety of
physical appearances" etc. This is the sort of stuff that concerns
people today. Is it likely to after 10K years? I happen to be one of
those optimistic about uploading, VR (with a window on reality) etc.
In 10K years "appearances" may be changeable very fast with only a thought. I
even think this will happen much sooner. But I don't think this sort of thing 
will have the importance it does for many today. 

In even 200 years, why shouldn't 
everyone be a joyful genius, each with their own unique specialties? 
It's possible we'll find our squishy protoplasm that saw us through 
the evolutionary climb to be the best for our future life as 
immortals, but it seems very doubtful to me. Anyway, surely things will 
change a lot. (In some ways though, "the more things change, the more 
they stay the same.") If you are contemplating personality changes, 
why not contemplate a change in the direction of valuing your own 
memories (together with having a better memory, if that is a 
problem)? Basically, you want to feel good one way or another. I 
see many possible options beyond what appear to be your present
concerns. You could become "more outgoing" 
but that would not guarantee you'd like it better. You could, on the 
other hand, make some other change that would make you a "happy 
recluse." (It may be that you can't stand being alone now. That you could 
probably change. Being alone most of the time
could become a real source of satisfaction and meaning,
along with remembering your past life, even including right now and 
earlier.) I think if the changes are managed right, it would amount 
to enhancing, not negating or replacing, the person that is there 
now. "You" would survive in a reasonable sense, provided the 
memory/information loss from now to then is not too great.

> 
> Am I contemplating murder?
> Should I feel guilty about it?

Well, under certain circumstances, a case could be made that you are 
contemplating a kind of suicide, depending on 
just what changes you would lik. Derek Parfit,
in *Reasons and Persons* has a thought 
experiment in which he is changed into (an exact copy of) Greta 
Garbo. If you go this far and produce an entirely new individual, 
complete with other memories, that seems like suicide (plus the creation of a 
continuer of some other person). If this happens over a period 
of time, even a long period, I don't see a fundamental difference. 
Should you feel guilty? Should a person contemplating suicide feel 
guilty? One important consideration is whether others will be badly 
affected by your proposed actions. But in your case, that is clearly 
a long ways in the future. I wouldn't worry over any possible 
"wrongdoing" yet. Don't feel guilty.  But you 
are interested in personality changes. So again, I'll raise the issue 
of why not consider those changes that will make your own survival
(by reasonable criteria based on the persistence of past information)
more meaningful and enjoyable to you. Again, you want to 
feel good, one way or another. Why not immortalize yourself in the 
process?

Mike Perry 

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