Re: Simulation argument in the NY Times

From: Damien Broderick (thespike@satx.rr.com)
Date: Tue Aug 21 2007 - 21:35:18 MDT


At 08:26 AM 8/21/2007 -0700, Matt Mahoney wrote:

>Does it matter if
>the neural emulation is optimized by <stuff>

Note the correct use of the noun "emulation." Soon it will go away.

>At what point does your consciousness not
>transfer?

An awful lot of trouble could be avoided if the grossly misleading
word "transfer" were omitted at this point. Your consciousness is not
a *thing* that can get "transferred". It's a process that might be
emulated or copied somewhere else. If all you want out of life is a
copy of yourself elsewhere, go for it. Make lots of them, and die
happy. Just don't expect to wake up after you've died and find you're
still here, as one of them. (What other people think of the copies is
irrelevant; one cute kitten is as good as another, right?)

And so we yet again rehearse the same stale dispute. Sorry about that.

Damien Broderick



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