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Thought experiment: Suppose every human in China severed their corpus callosum such that they now have two distinct conscious observers in their heads. If my

Thought experiment: Suppose every human in China severed their corpus callosum such that they now have two distinct conscious observers in their heads. If my memory is completely wiped, and I'm given the above info and nothing more, should I maintain or increase my probability estimate that I am Chinese (i.e. should I guess 1.4/7.67 or 2.8/(7.67+1.4))?

onychomys 5y ago
That's not at all how the CC works. Severing it used to be a common treatment for epilepsy (it prevents the synchronized firing of neurons that cause seizures), and those people were all basically themselves afterwards. https://sites.psu.edu/intropsychsp14n2/2014/02/04/severing-the-corpus-callosum/ https://sites.psu.edu/intropsychsp14n2/2014/02/04/severing-t...
- fighterpilot 5y ago
  It is how the CC works. They're two separate conscious entities after the CC. See the wiki page on Split-brain for an overview.
  - qayxc 5y ago
    The sad (scary?) part is that one of the two is forever silent.
    - Yoric 5y ago
      I assume that onychomys and fighterpilot are actually two halves of the same brain, debating on HN.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
bmc7505 5y ago
What is your prior probability that sudden memory loss occurs in the general population?
- fighterpilot 5y ago
  I'm sure there's a reason you're asking but I can't figure it out. Why does it make a difference?
  - bmc7505 5y ago
    The prior probability matters because iff it is strictly less than 1 then your estimate should increase by a factor of: P(Chinese | no memory, post-pan-Chinese callosotomy) / P(Chinese | no memory, pre-pan-Chinese callosotomy) If the population of those who suffer from sudden memory loss is small, then post-pan-Chinese callosotomy, if you know you have sudden memory loss, then you are almost certain to be Chinese. However if you assume the observer cannot tell whether they have suffered sudden memory loss, the calculation becomes different. I'm not sure what it's like to have a corpus callosotomy, but I'll assume you're correct and total memory loss occurs. If you suddenly awoke with an empty memory, how would you know whether you were just born or your memory was just wiped? I submit that your prior should be exactly 1, since every human is guaranteed to have an empty memory at some point in their lifetime. If so, then the probability of you being Chinese, post-pan-Chinese callosotomy should remain unchanged.

onychomys 5y ago

That's not at all how the CC works. Severing it used to be a common treatment for epilepsy (it prevents the synchronized firing of neurons that cause seizures), and those people were all basically themselves afterwards. https://sites.psu.edu/intropsychsp14n2/2014/02/04/severing-the-corpus-callosum/ https://sites.psu.edu/intropsychsp14n2/2014/02/04/severing-t...

fighterpilot 5y ago
It is how the CC works. They're two separate conscious entities after the CC. See the wiki page on Split-brain for an overview.
- qayxc 5y ago
  The sad (scary?) part is that one of the two is forever silent.
  - Yoric 5y ago
    I assume that onychomys and fighterpilot are actually two halves of the same brain, debating on HN.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]

bmc7505 5y ago

What is your prior probability that sudden memory loss occurs in the general population?

fighterpilot 5y ago
I'm sure there's a reason you're asking but I can't figure it out. Why does it make a difference?
- bmc7505 5y ago
  The prior probability matters because iff it is strictly less than 1 then your estimate should increase by a factor of: P(Chinese | no memory, post-pan-Chinese callosotomy) / P(Chinese | no memory, pre-pan-Chinese callosotomy) If the population of those who suffer from sudden memory loss is small, then post-pan-Chinese callosotomy, if you know you have sudden memory loss, then you are almost certain to be Chinese. However if you assume the observer cannot tell whether they have suffered sudden memory loss, the calculation becomes different. I'm not sure what it's like to have a corpus callosotomy, but I'll assume you're correct and total memory loss occurs. If you suddenly awoke with an empty memory, how would you know whether you were just born or your memory was just wiped? I submit that your prior should be exactly 1, since every human is guaranteed to have an empty memory at some point in their lifetime. If so, then the probability of you being Chinese, post-pan-Chinese callosotomy should remain unchanged.