X-Message-Number: 25260
From: 
Date: Fri, 10 Dec 2004 16:14:04 EST
Subject: continuity criterion

Thomas Donaldson writes (to RBR) in part:
 
>Suppose that we can upload someone into a machine (this is  
>supposition, not a claim; for different reasons than yours I  doubt
>that we can do this very soon at all). Why DOESN'T that  person's
>QE continue.
 
First, the burden of proof is on Thomas' side. If he claims  that a duplicate 
or simulation constitutes a "continuation" of a person, how is  that claim 
justified? It certainly doesn't comport with the ordinary use of  language. 
 
As RBR has said, If you build another house from the same  blueprint as an 
existing house, the second house is still a different house. If  the first one 
is burnt down and then another is built, whether at the same  location or not, 
and whether or not built with a used or aged aspect to resemble  the old one, 
the second house is a new one, not a "continuation" of the first.  (And the 
insurance company will pay off on the first one, unless it thinks the  owner 

burnt it on purpose.) The new one may be "just as good" for many purposes,  but
it is still distinct. If you insist that mere similarity justifies calling a  
duplicate a continuer, then that is not an argument but only an assertion of  
preference with no real rationale that I can see.
 
In math, as Thomas knows, a curve is "continuous" if (roughly  speaking) 

whenever x changes by a very small amount, y or f(x) also changes  by a very 
small 
amount. There are no gaps in the curve. 
 
People aren't curves on paper, but a similar principle  seems to apply. You 
and your physical predecessors and successors are  continuous if there are no 
gaps in your existence--only gradual changes.  You share material, space, and 
time. If change is relatively rapid, then you are  considerably different from 
your somewhat earlier selves and somewhat later  selves, and there will be 
practical problems in deciding strategy, but that  isn't news. At least there 
appears to be a viewpoint both reasonable and  allowing room for optimism. 
 
Robert Ettinger
 
 
 






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