From: Lee Corbin (lcorbin@tsoft.com)
Date: Wed Nov 13 2002 - 08:53:53 MST
Here is another thought experiment that makes us less
sure about what in general are the kinds of things
one should do for one's own benefit.
(Up till now in history, human experience and memory
formation have gone hand in hand. But in an uploaded
state, memory acquisition need not be attended by
experience, nor experience by memory acquisition.
It all leads to a further assault on our concept of
self.)
Suppose that one conscientiously wishes to do what is
best for oneself, but happens to be in the following
unfortunate predicament. You are in a transparent
cell at the center of an auditorium. A large clock
is visible, but has only a hand denoting seconds, from
zero to 60, and it makes a revolution once per minute.
Before you are two buttons, one labeled "10" and one
labeled "55". When the clock gets to sixty (that is,
the second hand is at the top, vertical position of the
clock) you must choose. If you choose "10" then terrible
torture is visited on you for ten seconds, but the
remaining fifty seconds are entirely pain free, at
least as pain free as is possible in such horrible
circumstances. If you choose "55", however, you will
be tortured for 55 seconds, but as soon as the hand
reaches 55 your memory of the last 55 seconds will
be erased.
These are the objective conditions: choose "10" and
get tortured for 10 seconds, choose "55" get tortured
for 55 seconds, but with the memories lifted
immediately afterwards.
But what will each *seem* like? For choice "10", what
seems to be the case will really be the case: ten
seconds of terrible pain followed by fifty seconds
of relief. For choice "55" however, your memory will
be as follows: as you pressed "55", the second hand
seemed to instantly fly from the 00 seconds position
right around to 55 seconds, and there was no pain
(so far, of course, as your memories are concerned).
Intellectually you realize that you suffer the least
from the first choice because 10 seconds of torture is
better than 55 seconds of torture per minute. Not only
that, but in the audience are all your loved ones who
come whenever your captivity results in this dilemma.
By their signs, they implore you again and again to
press button "10". They just can't stand to see you
suffer for so long each minute as when you choose "55".
So dreadful is the punishment attending choice "10",
however, that sooner or later you try "55". You find
that it seems as though you escape the punishment
despite your intellectual knowledge and despite
the pleas and exhortations from the audience.
Of course, in reality, when you choose "55" you are
again and again astonished to find that it doesn't
work. As the long 55 seconds of torture begins,
you realize that you have made a terrible mistake.
If you can, you write yourself a note saying that
choice "55" is vastly worse than choice "10" whether
you happen to remember it or not, and to NEVER make
this mistake again. After a while, your transparent
cell becomes littered with such messages.
Whenever you are taken from your cell and exhibited
in this way, would you try to resolve to press only
button "10"?
Lee
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