X-Message-Number: 11169 Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1999 20:44:27 -0700 From: Mike Perry <> Subject: Re: CryoNet #11159 Thomas Donaldson has an interesting discussion about the possible problems you would have if injected into a world that already contained your double. Of course, from that point, you two would diverge as individuals, but still for a long time you'd be more alike, I'd think, than identical twins. And it would pose a problem for you if your double was the one who was already here, with a job, property, etc. You'd be something of a "nobody." To me though, it would be far from all bad; my double's friends would (probably) be my friends too. Presumably too, others would recognize the sort of problem that existed, and be sympathetic. I see lots of possibilities, and I'd certainly prefer living to dying.The issue of marriage was raised (though it happens that it wouldn't apply to me, a "single"). This might pose a special problem. "If a person could be duplicated, then so could a house or even a spouse," is what I say in my book, also addressing the issue of property. Then I add, "But the world of the future will be different in many ways, and I think these problems too will not be among the hardest." Actually, I don't think there will be much incentive to create duplicate people, except perhaps in a VR environment in a more distant future, when we should be advanced and wise enough to sidestep the more obvious problems. Mike Perry Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=11169