From: Harvey Newstrom (mail@HarveyNewstrom.com)
Date: Sat Jun 02 2001 - 12:19:18 MDT
Charlie Stross wrote,
> We consider two items that exist at different spatial locations and the
> same temporal location to be different;
Only if they are separate. I exist on the floor, one meter above it, and
two meters above it. I take up space in three dimensions. I do not measure
how far my feet are from my head to decide if they are connected to me.
Difference objects are not separated by distance. They are separated by an
intervening gap of disconnection. Even if they are touching, two objects
are not molecularly bound into the same structure. Distance does not
matter, but separation does.
> we *may* consider two items that
> exist at different spatial locations and different temporal locations
> to be the same item
Again, only if they are separated by a gap. If my younger self is
continuous with my older self throughout the years, there is no gap. If I
step into a time machine and step out at a different year, there is no gap.
If a new recreation of me is created later with no connection to the earlier
me, then I would consider them to be separate objects. The later object may
be identical to the original object, and may be an indistinguishable
replacement.
\
> You may be able to merge two minds, but you won't be able to violate the
> constraint that before they were merged, they existed at the same temporal
> location in different spatial locations.
But they would be separated by a gap. Then merged into a single structure.
At first, there would be two objects. Then one. The fact that there is
later one object does not obscure the fact that they used to be two objects.
Likewise, cutting an object into two pieces does not obscure the fact that
it used to be one piece. Arguing that a merging makes one object does not
retroactively change the previous count of objects.
> (So when dealing with personality uploads I think it's important to
> distinguish between "duplicating" my state vector, and "moving" it from
> one medium to another.)
This is very important. Duplicating creates additional instances and
increases the total count of objects. Moving an object allows it to remain
a single object throughout the transition. Duplicating a person is not the
same as moving a person.
-- Harvey Newstrom <http://HarveyNewstrom.com> <http://Newstaff.com>
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