From: Dan Fabulich (daniel.fabulich@yale.edu)
Date: Tue Mar 27 2001 - 15:44:34 MST
Emlyn wrote:
> OK, try this...
>
> I probably would give up one minute. But the motivation is *not* self
> preservation. It's altruism, empathy for another being.
Right, yes, of course. That was my point. Answering the qualia
question only changes your answer to the question of *why* you'd
undergo destructive uploading, not *whether* you'd do so. Some people
think that they'd be able to preserve themselves that way, but even
those who don't should (and would!) undergo the process anyway, if
only for altruism's sake.
> I wouldn't, for one second, believe that I was in any way getting a chance
> to live on however, in this scenario. He's not me, he's someone else who
> resembles me quite strongly, excepting that when he's alive, I'll be dead,
> which I feel, personally, is a significant difference.
Fine, fine. But (and this was my point) what does it *matter*, since
you're making the same choice as someone who *did* think that they
were preserving themselves?
It seems to me that this philosophical distinction changes nothing
more than what we *call* this scenario (self-preservation/altruism)
and how we'll feel about it.
Now, with that said, maybe that's reason enough to say that it
matters. But *that* question feels pretty trivial, at least to me.
-Dan
-unless you love someone-
-nothing else makes any sense-
e.e. cummings
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