5 ms·
I read it like this. Alice gets in the machine and creates ten new copies of her. Each of them thinks they are Alice. Are they all right? If so what does th
by wilburTheDog 5y ago
I read it like this. Alice gets in the machine and creates ten new copies of her. Each of them thinks they are Alice. Are they all right? If so what does the concept of 'me' or 'self' actually mean? Are you a unique individual? Do you have (or are you) a soul or something that exists independently of the arrangement of atoms that makes up your body? Or is your identity and sense of self completely the result of the way the neurons between your ears are connected?
I think this kind of question is particularly important to people brought up with strong religious beliefs.
- alisonkisk 5y agoTwins exist too.
- nautilius 5y agoIf we confirm that the copies are ‘perfect’ (which is implied when we think about teleportation), then every entity has every right to consider themself ‘the original’, and at t=t0 they are indeed by definition indistinguishable. They all have a self, but of course it has to be separate from the original. The only alternatives are that they develop no self, then by definition they are not proper copies, or they would all share a single mind which makes no sense whatsoever. If I install the same piece of software on ten identical computers, they will all think they’re the same, because they have the same serial number, hash, etc. but obviously they’re different instances. I see that accepting this could be problematic if you think you need some divine spark (how are twins reconciled? They’re one individual split in two, after conception). However, I still don’t see a paradox.