From: Rafal Smigrodzki (rms2g@virginia.edu)
Date: Tue Oct 29 2002 - 17:05:01 MST
LDC wrote:
But what about the case
> where I deliberately fork, and my dup goes off travelling
> while I remain for a while, and then, say, die in an
> accident because I knowingly took an excessive risk? Do
> the people to whom I owed obligations have a greater claim
> than the ordinary one on my estate, or a claim against my
> other fork, because there's another instance out there who
> remembers giving the obligation, might be in a position to
> fulfill it (for example, because he clearly has the skills
> and experience I did), and because my knowledge of that
> other instance made me more inclined to take that risk?
### I would presume that the law (and feelings of right and wrong that
underpin its application) might develop in the same way as the common law
and contract law did. Results of judicial decisions on the welfare of those
who shape the law will be the input for further judicial decisions, and
statutes.
If we agree that the law should maximize the ability of individuals to
engage in peaceful pursuit of their goals, then the obligations put on you
and the fork will evolve depending on whether the fork's wishes can
influence the law. If yes, then probably the forks would have equal claim to
the estate of the original, and equal share in his obligations. If one fork
is alive but the other dies, the surviving fork might inherit part of the
estate, perhaps depending on the amount of cumulative divergence between the
forks. Immediately after the (voluntary) duplication each fork might be
jointly and serially responsible for all obligations of the original (I
guess my stint as a landlord shows here - remember to always put the joint
and serial responsibility on your tenants). Unless they decide to apportion
such obligations unequally (by a non-coercive process starting from an equal
position), this state of affairs would persist until all obligations of the
original were discharged.
------
>
> How do my obligations, alliances, and contracts with others
> affect my ability to fork? If I am married, do I have the
> right to create a fork or give it any of my assets if that
> wasn't anticipated in the marriage contract?
### Your wife might indeed have a claim against you. Probably you would need
prenuptial agreements to clarify the issue.
-------
Is the fork
> bound by any obligations of care I (and therefore he) gave
> to my spouse should the original instance die?
### Yes, I think he is, unless otherwise specified.
------
Is it
> acceptable for me to fulfill a contract for my services
> by sub-contracting my twin?
### Yes, as long as the twin is not coerced.
-------
Can I choose to apportion not
> only my assets, but my personal obligations between the two
> as we see fit (for example, could I let one of me own my
> medical insurance and another me own my life insurance,
> and a third me keep my marriage?
### Yes, except for the marriage issue (unless the spouse agrees
beforehand).
-------
>
> Can I form contracts between me and my twin before his
> creation? After all, I know everything he will know when
> he is created, and have all the same motivations, so
> shouldn't I be able to sign on his future behalf?
### I think you do.
-------
>
> If I destructively scan and duplicate myself in another
> substrate (say an upload, or a bush robot), am I obligated
> to choose a form that can physically accomplish whatever
> obligations I may have had in my present form?
### Definitely yes. No escape forward. Alimony has to be paid.
--------
Can I still
> hold others to obligations they may have had to my previous
> form, since I remember and still desire them, even though
> they did not anticipate my transformation?
### Are you talking about accidental or involuntary duplication here?
Rafal
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