--- John Clark <jonkc@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
> m <mt_2@yahoo.com> Wrote:
[...]
> "This" instance of you will NOT step out of the transporter, "That"
> instance of you will. You concede that Mr.That is perfectly happy
> but you worry about Mr.This, and because he is no longer around you
> can't ask his opinion of the results. Well, this sort of thing
> happens
> every day. The John Clark of yesterday no longer exists, but I
> remember being him so in my opinion he has survived.
This sounds a bit like history being written by the victors, and has
similar problems!!
> However I
> must admit I have no way of asking the John Clark of yesterday if
> he is as happy with the results as I am. I just don't worry about
> it.
And I do. Basic Impasse :(.
> > Come on, I've been around as some kind of conscious
> assemblage
> >for a fair number of years, irrespective of what I took into
> myself at
> >lunch yesterday.
>
> Exactly, and the only conclusion to draw from that is atoms are not
> important.
Agreed. I never meant to imply that particular atoms were! I said
(parenthetically) that the majority of atoms will not be replaced
instantaneously, but it wasn't the primary point.
> >There is continuity of experience even as we change, no?
>
> I agree.
>
> >This is what I trying to say with the space-time line idea.
>
> I don't see how you could draw a space-time line of a human body,
> you'd have to include every particle that had ever been or would
> ever
> be part of it. It would be like trying to draw one for an ocean
> wave.
[...]
Nice analogy. But you *could* trace some kind of trajectory for the
wave in general. Ditto for macroscopic humans.
What seems important to you is that the PATTERN is retained; I agree
with this. Any decent transporter (or compatible clone :-] ) will do
this.
But 1.) The PATTERN itself must be transcribed for transmission
AFAIK.
Does this change in the medium matter?
2.) Saying that two instances of a pattern are indistinguishable
(eg two computer files) is true only in a restricted sense that
(a) 2 copies of a computer file may well be structurally and
functionally identical (I'm perfectly happy to agree with this),
but NOT in the sense
(b) That they inhabit the same space or time (our programs are on
our respective hard discs.)
Whether or not your copy is destroyed in the process of uploading
to me, there is a change in medium (eg magnetic to optical) during
transmission and a change in location.
Beam me up (no, on second thought I'll take the Space Elevator
instead),
Michael
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu Jul 27 2000 - 14:11:29 MDT