X-Message-Number: 25414
Date: Sun, 26 Dec 2004 10:42:17 -0800 (PST)
From: Scott Badger <>
Subject: Disassembly

I don't think the Identity horse is quite dead yet, 
so I'm going to kick it just a couple more times. 

Richard asserted that disassembly destroys the QE.
But he agreed the QE would probably 'not' be 
destroyed if, while frozen, the brain were broken 
into just two pieces and then properly reassembled.
And, of course, this is how most people woud answer.
There's no reason why proper reassembly after being 
broken into 3, 4, ... n pieces shouldn't yield the 
same answer. There's no justification for drawing a 
line. Stating that at 'some point' the system becomes 
incapable of experiencing Qualia, and thus the 
original QE is destroyed is completely arbitrary. 
Analogies were given in attempt to provide support 
such as the one below.

The analogy was used of a building being torn down 
(disassembled) and how constructing a new building 
using the same blueprint would not be the original. 
But what if I carefully disassembled a building bit 
by bit, carefully recorded where every bit was in 
relationship to every other bit, and then reassembled 
the building using the original bricks, beams, 
fixtures, etc.? I think the majority of people would 
'intuitively' agree that the rebuilt building was, 
indeed, the same building. They would say it was the 
same building because they would 'observe' that the 
building looks and works exactly the same as before. 
More importantly, however, they would 'sense' it was 
the same builing because the same bricks and fixtures
had been used in the reconstruction.

They 'would not' agree it was the same building if I 
told them that the same blueprint, but all new 
materials, had been used. 

They 'would not' agree it was the same building if I 
told them that the same materials but a new blueprint
had been used.

Only extreme purists would disagree it was the same 
building if I told them that the same blueprint and all 
the same materials except for one new brick and one new 
lightbulb had been used.

These are common sense answers.

But, reason suggests that this 'common sense' 
perspective breaks down. What if I used 2, 3, 4, ... n 
new bricks? At what point is it no longer the same 
building? Different people would draw the line at 
different points but how could an objective line 
justifiably be drawn at any point?

If I were to substitute the bricks and fixtures in this 
analogy with atoms, people would simply rephrase 
their belief that as long as the 'same' atoms are being 
used the original remains intact. But, of course, we 
all know that atoms of the same element are identical, 
non-discernable, and completely interchangeable. 
So it truly makes no difference which atoms are used 
or where they come from. 

For a person to insist that the 'original' atoms 'must' 
be used to reassemble any structure in order for the 
original to be 'saved' suggests that the person believes 
there is something metaphysically special about the 
original.

I'm not immune to the psychological discomfort 
associated with these ideas. It doesn't 'feel' right to 
me that my brain can be completely disassembled 
then reassembled using either the same or different 
atoms and it will still be me. 
 
But if I consider myself to be a rational materialist, 
then I don't see how I can avoid the logic of it. Maybe 
someone else can show me the flaw in my reasoning. 
Also, please forgive me since I think this has all been 
said before. I just can't recall a good counter-
argument.

Happy holidays,

Scott

P.S. You're looking at a rainbow (and yes, I realize 
that rainbows don't really exist). A cloud crosses 
in front of the sun. The rainbow disappears. A few 
seconds later the sun comes back out and a rainbow 
appears again. Consider that the physical system 
capable of producing this rainbow effect has altered 
while the cloud was passing to at least some small 
degree, so the rainbow that appears at T2 looks 
a little different than the one at T1.

Was the original rainbow destroyed or is it the 
same rainbow?

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