X-Message-Number: 19541 Date: Wed, 17 Jul 2002 08:13:17 -0400 From: Thomas Donaldson <> Subject: CryoNet #19522 - #19539 Hi everyone! About having several identities: the main problem I see with this idea is that in the literal sense these 2 people may start out as identical but cease to be so once their experiences differ. Not only that, but as an individual human being, each of them would be reluctant to combine with ANY other, no matter if that other was (up until a while ago) a copy of himself. However, supposing that such reluctance is overcome or does not exist, what we have is two DIFFERENT people merging into one. The fact that they were once identical does not matter here; they are different at the time of the merger, or else that merger means nothing at all. Perhaps the question might be reformulated: what about the merger of two people into one, with one identity (no cheating here with several identities, as happens in some psychiatric conditions). The fact that these two people were once identical is irrelevant to this problem. And as a general point, given the necessary quite nontrivial technology, I see no problem with such mergers. The main problem with considering two people as identical is that they aren't ... if they were, then they would be copies of one another. If you decide to limit just what factors make 2 people identical, then you have to be very careful, for otherwise you will find that many people are "identical". Just what factors are to be chosen to define "identity" here? Best wishes and long long life, Thomas Donaldson Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=19541