From: Jef Allbright (jef@jefallbright.net)
Date: Sat Nov 09 2002 - 13:49:06 MST
gts wrote:
> I asked myself what it might be like to experience a
> bifurcation, according to my own interpretation of
> what they would be like. Specifically I was wondering
> why and how an original would experience a
> continuation of his sense of self in one continuation
> of himself but not in the other.
> Imagine a "bifurcation chamber," which houses the
> futuristic technology necessary to create two versions
> of a single person. It has an entrance door on one
> side and two exit doors on the other side. A person
> who walks into this chamber instantly becomes two
> people, Person-A and Person-B, each of whom then walk
> out of one of the two exits. Both Person-A and
> Person-B would experience a continuation of self and
> rightly believe himself to be a continuation of the
> original Person. Now here is the question: the
> original himself would experience a continuation of
> his experience as he walks into and out of the
> chamber, but clearly he will not experience himself as
> walking out of *both* doors. He will experience
> himself to walk out of either exit A or exit B. What
> determines whether it will be exit A or exit B?
Whichever door is closest to each, I suppose.
I think the confusion, or apparent paradox, comes from thinking in terms of
an "original" and a "duplicate". It is clearer if you see it as the
following:
1) One entitity walks into the chamber.
2) The bifurcator process results in two copies of that entity. (Not an
original and a duplicate, since by definition they are exact copies of that
entity.)
3) The two copies immediately begin to diverge as separate entities with a
common root.
4) They both decide to go home, sit down with their spouse, and decide how
to handle all the interesting sociological issues that are coming up.
I just don't see any paradox in these scenarios, but I appreciate that some
people do. The confusion or paradox seems to come from an underlying belief
that there is a consciousness or sense of self that inhabits the person,
rather being simply the result of processes taking place mostly in that
person's body.
My study of buddhism in the late 70's convinced me that our conventional
sense of self is an illusion. Once you see this, you can go on and use the
conventional terms in daily life, but understood in a broader context.
Maybe this zen perspective on the "duck me" thread will spread some
enlightenment. ;-)
- Jef
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