Re: Progress: What does it mean to you?

From: Lee Corbin (lcorbin@ricochet.net)
Date: Fri Jun 01 2001 - 21:02:25 MDT


Samantha writes to suggest that who we are depends on the
process being run rather than on the information of the
states constituting that process:

>> There are objective reasons why a stone (or Mr Blair)
>> is not Samantha Atkins. In order for something to be
>> Samantha Atkins... it must satisfy certain physical
>> criteria (though we do not today know what those are).
>
>Really? I would think it rather needed to fulfill some process
>level criteria rather than specific physical instantiations of
>that processing.

Processes are physical. We need not distinguish between
a process and the states that constitute it. Perhaps we
agree: it's not the instantiations that matter, but the
pattern and flow. By "physical criteria" then, please
think of the physical criteria characterising your
process, the process of being Samantha Atkins.

>No [I do not want to evolve into something that no longer
>has my core] But I believe this "core" can run/wear a wide
>variety of packagings without being lost.

Okay for that. But sorry, I must ask again about

>> suppose that there exists in 3000A.D. an entity who resembles
>> (to a tiny fraction only) Tony Blair, Prime Minister. That is,
>> this tremendous entity has some of Blair's memories, but that's all.
> If that is really "death" then I have no fear of it at all. I
> fear death as utter annihilation of all of me, rather than
> change of much of me but with a crucial core that remains.

What? Please answer: if you slowly evolve into this entity
do you survive or not? Or maybe I should ask, does your core
survive or not? Please clarify. Thanks.

>I have no doubt IQ or general intelligence or functioning
>intelligence could be boosted tremendously, far beyond 250
>without losing what makes *me* myself in this core sense.
>But much of the packaging might change rather drastically
>with that increase of IQ.

Perhaps it would help if you could use your fine imagination
and explain how incredibly different you could become without
this core becoming so different that you're no longer alive.
Also it might help if you explained how incredibly different
an alien could be from a human being, yet still have Samantha's
core. Finally, do you suppose that other people here on Earth
already have this core?

Lee



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