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I don't think it's a universal thought by far but it's not uncommon, before the theoretical tech existed for uploads the niche for providing a balm to people's

by rtkwe 2y ago

I don't think it's a universal thought by far but it's not uncommon, before the theoretical tech existed for uploads the niche for providing a balm to people's fear of death was monopolized by religion. Not everyone went to it for that but it is a common component of why people turn to religion. Also to the upload they're not a copy they're in continuity with your experience just in a different place. To borrow a metaphor from The Prestige, they're the one that stepped out of the box, the one that goes on living and gets the reward of that and of continued qualia. Finally if we start throwing around labels about uploads taken right at your last living thought and squirting that onto a cloud and call that separate we get into some sticky philosophical quagmires about brain damage, comas, the continuous replacement churn of all the cells in our body, etc that make defining You as you tricky.

SketchySeaBeast 2y ago
I think this isn't as complicated as you're making it out to be. If I take a digital copy and then create it in the cloud, that's not me. We could create 3 digital copies all at once. Clearly, those aren't all me. I'm not a gestalt, those are three individual entities who are having different, even if similar, experiences. Same with a clone of me. Not me. Similar, sure, but not me. How do I know that? Because the real me could stand beside it. Me with brain damage? After some brain cell replacement? I'm changed as a person, sure, but there's a difference between change and duplicating. It's seem like you're saying that the answer to the Ship of Theseus is "yes" in every scenario, and I don't follow that. And this is all immaterial - like I said, the me I really care about is going to one day be rotting in the ground, and that's the only real continuity of consciousnesses I care about. The digital copy may be thankful for being alive, and it may very well think of itself as me, it only makes sense being based upon the same experiences, but they aren't the same thing.

by rtkwe 2y ago

SketchySeaBeast 2y ago

I think this isn't as complicated as you're making it out to be. If I take a digital copy and then create it in the cloud, that's not me. We could create 3 digital copies all at once. Clearly, those aren't all me. I'm not a gestalt, those are three individual entities who are having different, even if similar, experiences. Same with a clone of me. Not me. Similar, sure, but not me. How do I know that? Because the real me could stand beside it. Me with brain damage? After some brain cell replacement? I'm changed as a person, sure, but there's a difference between change and duplicating. It's seem like you're saying that the answer to the Ship of Theseus is "yes" in every scenario, and I don't follow that. And this is all immaterial - like I said, the me I really care about is going to one day be rotting in the ground, and that's the only real continuity of consciousnesses I care about. The digital copy may be thankful for being alive, and it may very well think of itself as me, it only makes sense being based upon the same experiences, but they aren't the same thing.