Re: Can I kill the original? MVT answer

From: Harvey Newstrom (hnewstro@us.ibm.com)
Date: Tue May 09 2000 - 12:34:27 MDT


"Steve" <steve@multisell.com> wrote:
> >From: "Harvey Newstrom" <mail@HarveyNewstrom.com>
> >I have no desire to preserve anything of myself now, just as I don't
> >miss any features missing from feotus-Harvey who no longer exists.
>
> Surely the present-Harvey and foetus-Harvey are continuous, the same
unique
> being?

Yes, I believe they are the same being. My point was that I don't require
any specific piece of myself to remain the same into the future to believe
it is still me. I can evolve and change in the future. My believe that it
is still me is based on the fact that I evolved into the new thing, not how
closely it matches a previous version of me. It might be possible for
nanotech to totally reshape me within seconds, and I could still believe the
new body was still me.

> > I do want to extend my current consciousness stream so that I am around
to
> >experience the god-like Harvey. If that stream ends, then I miss out on
> >the show.
> >
> >I really do want to preserve my current consciousness stream. I really
> >don't care about preserving any portions of my "self".
>
> So would the option of a completely new "consciousness stream" other than
> your current one be OK (since you don't care whether it originates from
your
> 'self')? I can see your point though that you want to continue the actual
> experience rather than just having bits of yourself simulated on a
machine,
> or alive like a zombie.

I would not object to the creation of a new consciousness stream, but I
believe that I will continue to live through the original consciousness
stream. The new one could fly away, and I would still be stuck in the old
one.

--
Harvey Newstrom <http://HarveyNewstrom.com>
IBM Certified Senior Security Consultant,  Legal Hacker, Engineer, Research
Scientist, Author.


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