I think we have a lot of clues (based on neuroscience), lay people just have trouble understanding them because they don't fit their preconceptions. Basically:

I think we have a lot of clues (based on neuroscience), lay people just have trouble understanding them because they don't fit their preconceptions. Basically: you are (mostly) your brain. If there are suddenly two copies of your brain (whether meat or silicon), there will be two "you"s which will diverge upon receiving different sensory inputs. Both will be "continuous" with past "you" in that they will share memories formed prior to divergence. However without some kind of telepathic link, they will not be continuous with each other (apart from normal communication). The question of "which one is real" is like asking which deep copy of a variable is "real". However, destroying one's physical copy in favor of having only a virtual copy living at the mercy of some Matrix would be an ... interesting life choice.