From: gts (gts_2000@yahoo.com)
Date: Wed Oct 23 2002 - 10:13:16 MDT
Lee Corbin wrote:
> It seems to me that you keep ducking *my* question,
> or my insinuations, at least: isn't it true that
> you *are* the same person that you were yesterday
> despite the fact that there are small differences
> between you?
No it is not true. And I did not duck your question. I answered your
question directly in a previous message, with words something like
"Strictly speaking, I am not the person I was last week." (You were
arguing that such a position would allow me to break promises by
attributing them to past selves, which spawned an interesting discussion
of promises between Dan and me. Have you not been reading this thread?)
In any case I consider the notion of "fixed personality" false.
Furthermore I consider this belief to be a source of much misery. As a
result of this false belief people tend to live too much in the past.
While it is convenient for us to speak as though we are each the same
person on each passing day, this is I believe only a social convention
and a convenience of language. A person who believes he *really* is the
same person who made his past mistakes will tend to ruminate about those
mistakes and feel inadequate because of them. Similarly, a person who
dwells on his past successes will tend to become egocentric and
narcissistic. It is much healthier, psychologically, to live in the
present with an eye toward the future. Forget the past. The past is dead
along with your past selves.
> And if you agree to that, then you
> can see why logically I can consider myself to
> be the same person as a close duplicate.
Well, I don't agree with that.
re: my religious conversion to the god Thor after my last backup
> Yes, in *that* case you might very well be considered
> to be, and rightly so, two different people.
Right.
> However, these are *extremely* rare cases. I would
> consider, in fact, that *never* during the course
> of even a single decade have I become a different
> person than I was.
The difference between me becoming a devoted servant of Thor and me
changing my favorite flavor of ice cream is only one of degree. In both
cases the old me died after making my last backup.
Subtle changes in personality happen every day in response to daily
events. For example I am right now rethinking my views on gun control as
a result of the sniper shootings in the Washington area. Regardless of
how I might decide to interpret these events, my attitude about gun
control laws will be likely be affected at least slightly. And tomorrow
there will no doubt be other events that result in more changes to my
personality. Personality grows and changes with each passing moment. In
fact it probably changes even in response to the events in our nightly
dreams.
> So suppose that you have to take a dangerous
> 3-minute helicopter ride to the opposite side
> of the canyon, and a backup of you was made
> ten seconds ago. Since due to the vagaries
> of the winds you might die at any second now,
> is that backup of any value to you?
"of value"? Yes, I suppose that backup is "of value" to me in a
philosophical sense. I would like to know that if I die, someone similar
to me will live on. I would value that backup in a manner analogous to
the way in which a father values his son, though with greater intensity
due to the closer relation. I would consider my restored backup to be my
progeny.
But will that restored backup really be me, the person who experienced
the thrill and terror of the helicopter ride? No.
-gts
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