From: John Clark (jonkc@worldnet.att.net)
Date: Mon Jun 11 2001 - 23:38:25 MDT
This matter has come up before, about 6 months ago I proposed
these thought experiments to the list.
====
An exact duplicate of the earth, and it's entire ecosystem, is created
a billion light years away. The duplicate world would need some sort of
feedback mechanism to keep the worlds in synchronization, non linear effects
would amplify tiny variations, even quantum fluctuations, into big
differences, but this is a thought experiment so who cares. In the first two
cases below the results would vary according to personalities, remember
there's a lot of illogic even in the best of us.
1) I know all about the duplicate world and you put a 44 magnum to my head
and tell me in ten seconds you will blow my brains out, am I concerned?
You bet I am because I know that your double is holding an identical gun
to the head of my double and making an identical threat.
2) I find out that for the first time since the Big Bang the worlds will
diverge, in 10 seconds you will put a bullet in my head but my double will
be spared, am I concerned? Yes, and angry as well, in times of intense
stress nobody is very logical. My double is no longer exact because I am
going through a traumatic experience and my double is not. I'd be looking
at that huge gun and wondering what it will be like when it goes off and
if death will really be instantaneous. I'd be wondering if my philosophy
was really as sound as I thought it was and I'd also be wondering why I
get the bullet and not my double and cursing the unfairness of it all.
My (semi) double would be thinking "it's a shame about that other fellow
but I'm glad it's not me".
3) I know nothing about the duplicate world, a gun is at both our heads and
we both are convinced we're going to die. One gun goes off, making a hell
of a mess, but the other gun, for inexplicable reasons misfires. In this
case NOBODY died and except for undergoing a terrifying experience I am
completely unharmed. The real beauty part is that I don't even have to
clean up the mess.
The bottom line is we don't have thoughts and emotions, we are thoughts and
emotions, and the idea that the particular hardware that is rendering them
changes their meaning is as crazy as my computer making the meaning of your
post different from what it was on yours.
John K Clark jonkc@att.net
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