From: hal@finney.org
Date: Mon Dec 11 2000 - 21:28:16 MST
Harvey writes, regarding "soft uploading",
> I think this is the best option which satisfies most people.
This may well be true. However I would predict, based on evolutionary
considerations, that people will evolve towards a more liberal definition
of identity.
In fact I would predict that someone would allow themselves to be
destroyed in order to allow several similar (but not identical) copies
to go on living.
This would be for much the same reason that ants will sacrifice themselves
in order for their colony mates to go on living, and mammals will
sacrifice in order for their children to survive. That is, organisms
which adopt this policy will become more numerous.
In the end, all this philosophizing may not matter much. People will
adopt those policies which bring them the greatest reproductive success.
Ideas about copying will probably make a big difference in the future
in terms of which options are available, and so expanding those options
will be a winning strategy.
Hal
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