Peter Jones writes:
> > > > Here is another thought experiment. You are watching an object moving against a
> > > > stationary background at a velocity of 10 m/s. Suddenly, the object seems to instantly
> > > > jump 10 metres in the direction of motion, and then continues as before at 10 m/s. You
> > > > are informed that one of the following three events has taken place:
> > > >
> > > > (a) your consciousness was suspended for 1 second, as in an absence seizure;
> > > >
> > > > (b) you were scanned, annihilated, and a perfect copy created in your place 1 second
> > > > later;
> > > >
> > > > (c) nothing unusual happened to you, but the object you were watching was instantly
> > > > teleported 10 metres in the direction of motion.
> > > >
> > > > Would you be able to guess which of the three events took place?
> > > >
> > > > Stathis Papaioannou
> > >
> > > Sure, it was (a). (c) violates the laws of physics. (b) might or might not be theoretically possible, but it's practically impossible.
> >
> > OK, you would probably be right if you were kidnapped and subjected to this experiment
> > tomorrow. But it's a thought experiment, and my point is that from your conscious
> > experience alone you would be unable to distinguish between the three cases. Peter Jones'
> > posts seem to imply that you would notice a difference.
>
> You have to say that, given a particular theory of consciousness,
> would you notice a difference. If physical counterfactuals/causality
> is important, you could in cases a) and b), since they
> all involve an abnormal causal transition from one OM to
> then next. Given computationalism, it is less straightforward.
The question is independent of your theory of consciousness. Say consciousness
is based on process C. I trust you will assume that process C is entirely physical, but
suppose it involves God animating your brain with his breath. Then in case (a) God stops
breathing for a second, in case (b) God destroys you and makes a perfect copy which he
reanimates a second later, and case (c) is unchanged. The important point is, when you
are destroyed then rebuilt, the new version of you is perfectly identical to the original and
functions exactly the same as the original would have. It seems to me *logically* impossible
that you could distinguish between the three cases.
Stathis Papaioannou
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Received on Sun Oct 29 2006 - 17:49:08 PST