From: Rafal Smigrodzki (rms2g@virginia.edu)
Date: Tue Nov 05 2002 - 07:36:52 MST
Hal Finney wrote:
> I know of some people who go beyond this:
>
> 8. Logically anticipates all experiences of all conscious entities,
> self or other, human or alien, past or future, near or far.
>
> One example is philosopher Arnold Zuboff, who in a paper called
> "Moment Universals and Personal Identity" (not available online),
> proposes that the elementary elements of our conscious experience,
> instants of consciousness, are so simple and structureless that they
> are shared across multiple streams of consciousness. In the end he
> concludes that there is only one conscious entity in existence, and
> that we are all parts of that entity.
### Very good point. The idea of the fundamental unity of all consciousness
was also previously expressed in Buddhism in the concept of anatman (the
non-soul). While I am extremely resistant to the mysticism inherent in
Buddhism, I did find this idea very intriguing many decades ago when I first
read about it, and it did help with my reaching the Seventh Level (yeah, why
not capitalize!).
For Lee: You wondered why I included the altruism module as one element in
the basis for my (and your) attitude towards self, and I never got to answer
you properly, but now Hal did it for me. Altruism and empathy "wash out" the
edges of the simple self, and make it easier to accept the copy as more than
merely your brother.
This said, I think I will not reach the 8th level anytime soon.
Rafal
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