From: Phillip Huggan (cdnprodigy@yahoo.com)
Date: Sat Apr 01 2006 - 19:02:09 MST
No, Aj is correct. When our brain matter is destroyed, we die. The continuity Aj is referring to is not the discontinuity that occurs five minutes after I drink a cup of coffee, vs the sleepy state I'm in before I drink it. Both pre and post caffeine, I'm still the same individual in this context. The continuity Aj was referring to breaking was that which occurs when the matter/energy of our brains is not comprising a person after we die. Dave, there is continuity of self. It is not 100%, but it is pretty close. That is because one *evolutionary advantage* is the laying down of accurate memories for the benefit of one's future self to access. We get to abstarctly time-travel forwards and backwards in time without leaving the present. Yay, continuity.
In my Opinion Aj, uploading for immortality is the biggest farce I've seen seriously discussed in these circles. I also believe any upload (obviously creating a separate individual with a separate identity) must exhibit similiar chemical and electromagnetic behaviours to what we observe occuring in animal nervous systems, for it to possess consciousness.
dave last <smileydave@hotmail.com> wrote:
Every morning when you wake up, you are a new person with memories of your
old life, believing yourself to be the same. Why then, this illusion of
continuity, of I-ness, of a "soul"? Because in civilization, it was a
tremendous evolutionary advantage be willing to endure some hardship or
discomfort today for the sake of your future self. Thus we evolved an ego.
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