From: hal@finney.org
Date: Thu Mar 15 2001 - 18:11:39 MST
Robert J. Bradbury, <bradbury@aeiveos.com>, writes:
> On Thu, 15 Mar 2001, Nick Bostrom, commenting on my comments wrote:
> > If the beings in the simulations are conscious then their well-being is as
> > ethically important as that of those who are implemented directly in
> > biological brains in the basement universe.
>
> Hmmmm, this seems to be the "conscious" = valuable, "non-conscious"
> equals not valuable (e.g. a binary state).
I think what Nick means is that it is irrelevant whether you are
dealing with a "simulated" being or a real one. He is not saying that
consciousness is the deciding factor, merely that simulation-vs-real
doesn't matter. If you don't care about a simulation with a certain
level of consciousness, then you shouldn't care about a real being with
that level of consciousness.
The question of what level of consciousness deserves consideration
is independent of this.
Hal
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