From: John K Clark (johnkc@well.com)
Date: Sat Jul 18 1998 - 09:44:38 MDT
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harv@gate.net (Harvey Newstrom) Fri, 17 Jul 1998 21:26:42 -0400
>Some claim that there is only one person,
Yes, I claim that.
>one body, one brain, one physical entity.
Well I never claimed that because I don't think it's true, perhaps somebody
on the list did but it certainly wasn't me.
>We know that atoms are interchangeable.
Exactly correct, interchangeable.
>All hydrogen atoms, for example, are identical.
Exactly correct, identical.
>Any two hydrogen atoms can be switched with no discernible effect.
Exactly correct, no discernible effect.
>Does this mean that there is only one hydrogen atom in the entire
>universe?
No, it means that if one hydrogen atom is in a process and you interchange it
with another identical hydrogen atom there will be no discernible effect,
not discernible by anyone, not even by Harvey Newstrom. This is true for any
process, even the process in the brain of Harvey Newstrom or his copy that
produces a feeling of self for Harvey Newstrom.
>This seems to be mysticism at its best
Thanks, I like to think so.
>Do other extropians really feel this way?
I don't know. Many Extropians write ideas about identity that are similar to
mine, but if the Turing Test doesn't work then I have no idea how they really
feel.
John K Clark johnkc@well.com
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