From: gts (gts_2000@yahoo.com)
Date: Tue Nov 05 2002 - 09:22:49 MST
Lee Corbin wrote:
>> Who decides if my backup is the same person I was when I
>> died? And based on what criteria is that decision made?
>
> Who determines what constitutes a "high degree of similarity" depends
> on circumstances.
Sorry but "depends on circumstances" is not a clear answer. I've already
specified the circumstances in my thought experiment.
> Normally, as for example between people who know
> each other quite well, other people decide. (Quoted from my
> previous post.)
Which people? I picked a politician example because politicians
generally make their views a matter of public record. In my thought
experiment, the American public is aware of my previous position on Iraq
*and* aware that I changed my position just prior to the Senate vote. Is
the public going to accept your view that my backup's vote on the issue
is really my vote? Perhaps those in favor of my former position would go
along with your assertion that my backup must be accepted as me, but
what of those in favor of my latter position? They will argue, rightly,
that my backup is not an accurate backup of the person who would have
voted on the issue and that his vote must be considered invalid. How
will you answer them?
It's hardly satisfactory to sweep the issue under the rug by decreeing a
new law ("Corbin's law"). You need to justify such a law.
> Either legally the senator can claim to be the same person or
> he cannot.
How would a court decide if his claim to be me were valid? Wouldn't the
judge look at the public record and hear the testimonies of those who
knew me well and who interacted with me after my last backup, and see
that my restored backup has a different position than that held by me at
the time of my death, and therefore rule that my backup is not actually
me? Of course she would!
> So, gts, suppose a senator has brain damage. Who decides
> whether he can finish his term. The fate of the world depends
> on this. YOU MUST ANSWER THE QUESTION! WHO DECIDES???
If it were a matter of public dispute then I believe a federal judge
would decide competency based on the testimony of expert witnesses,
namely the testimony of the senator's physicians.
-gts
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