6 ms·
>The old body has not changed. The same software is still running on the same hardware, what would change? But bodies do change over time; cells use molecules
by vharuck 5y ago
>The old body has not changed. The same software is still running on the same hardware, what would change?
But bodies do change over time; cells use molecules from food to create new ones, old cells die, people lose limbs. Now we're dealing with a Ship if Theseus[0] problem. And what if somebody has their arm cut off? Are they not the same person, but a fraction of their previous identity? Is their arm the other fraction?
If you want to argue that the mind defines the person, then what about dementia? Some people will say they aren't the same person as before, but where's the line? Is a forgetful person doomed to never be the same person day to day?
In my opinion, the only consistent belief is that the "self" is a useful mental model and nothing else. A leaky abstraction we shouldn't use for solid reasoning. Like paper money only has value because we agree to use this simple concept, "self" only has meaning because it helps us survive and achieve goals.
[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus
- nautilius 5y agoThe 'paradox' here is not how the person changes over twenty years, but what happens in the very moment of creating a copy. We're not dealing with a Ship of Theseus problem, that's something else entirely. I personally am horrified by possibly developing dementia one day, exactly because of that. But this is also a different problem because it affects the original body.