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If you do not think there is a difference between "your reflection in a mirror" and "you", it opens so many fascinating questions. I'm curious: - Do you think

If you do not think there is a difference between "your reflection in a mirror" and "you", it opens so many fascinating questions. I'm curious: - Do you think a live video, shown on a phone screen, of you, is "you"? - Do you think a still photograph of you is "you"? - Do you think a set of bytes representing that photograph (or video) digitally is "you"? - Do you think a compressed version of that photograph is "you"? Is there a limit to how much I can size down the image or compress it until it's no longer "you"? - Do you think the base-10 number equivalent to that digitized picture is also "you"? Can I memorize "you" if I learn all the digits of that number? Can I write "you" on a piece of paper from memory? Is Pi a person? - There is a very large number of reflecting surfaces in the world. How many of you are there? - Does the "you" in the mirror persist if you walk off the frame and can no longer see yourself in the mirror? What happened to him? Does he live in a left-handed world? What happens if I shatter or paint over the mirror? - If I draw you, is my drawing "you"? Does the accuracy of the drawing influence whether it is really "you" or not? If so, then does the accuracy/quality of the mirror influence whether it is "you" or not in the reflection? Are "you" fatter or slimmer, depending if the mirror is warped? - If you're standing far from the mirror, but I'm close to it and I can see "you", why can I talk or signal to you and you don't respond?

dormento 2mo ago
> Is Pi a person? Not only that! Does the decimal representation of π (which is infinite in length) contain all persons who ever existed, and will ever exist? Since π itself is a known reason, but its decimal representation is infinite, it means π cannot contain itself. So if it can contain every person that ever existed, but can't contain itself (which could conceivably contain everyone), then what does that even mean? Aaargghh.
- sebastiennight 2mo ago
  I do love the idea that Pi contains all of us. It means everytime you put on a wedding ring, time a pendulum, look at a rainbow, or land on a spherical planet, you can whip out your ruler and get access to every single human that ever lived or will live. What a concept! Spot me after the next rain. I'll be in the color indigo, right above the pot of gold, waving back.

dormento 2mo ago

> Is Pi a person? Not only that! Does the decimal representation of π (which is infinite in length) contain all persons who ever existed, and will ever exist? Since π itself is a known reason, but its decimal representation is infinite, it means π cannot contain itself. So if it can contain every person that ever existed, but can't contain itself (which could conceivably contain everyone), then what does that even mean? Aaargghh.

sebastiennight 2mo ago
I do love the idea that Pi contains all of us. It means everytime you put on a wedding ring, time a pendulum, look at a rainbow, or land on a spherical planet, you can whip out your ruler and get access to every single human that ever lived or will live. What a concept! Spot me after the next rain. I'll be in the color indigo, right above the pot of gold, waving back.