From: Matt Mahoney (matmahoney@yahoo.com)
Date: Sun Mar 01 2009 - 12:48:10 MST
--- On Sun, 3/1/09, John K Clark <johnkclark@fastmail.fm> wrote:
> On Sun, 1 Mar 2009 "Matt Mahoney"
> <matmahoney@yahoo.com> said:
>
> > The teleportation industry might go to great lengths
> > to soundproof the booths so nobody would hear the
> > tormented screams of their customers.
>
> I’ve heard debates on this subject for a long time and the evolution of
> my opponent’s argument is always the same. First he proposes a though
> experiment with you and a exact copy of you (for some reason that I
> don’t understand in their examples you are always the original, never
> the copy). After assuring us over and over that they are exact in every
> particular he then proceeds to slowly tortures to death one of them but
> NOT the other, he then turns to me with a glint of triumph in his eye
> and says “see, you wouldn’t like that very much if this was real I’ll
> bet”.
>
> They seem to think it’s obvious that they have just proven something
> profound; but I’ll be damned if I can figure out what it is. Yes it is
> true that being tortured will change you, but that’s not very profound,
> I already knew that. No, their big point must be something else, but I
> don’t have a clue of what it could be.
My point is that ethical beliefs are not the same thing as the truth. I think we both understand that, but it is a difficult point to make. For some reason people continue to argue about what we should do as opposed to what we will do, as if our minds had free will as opposed to being programs.
-- Matt Mahoney, matmahoney@yahoo.com
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