On Apr 22, 6:26 am, "Stathis Papaioannou" <stath....domain.name.hidden> wrote:
> 2008/4/22 Tom Caylor <daddycay....domain.name.hidden>:
>
> > Your "external event" is part of what I was referring to as "out
> > there". I would argue for the consistency and the merits of the view
> > that our identity is tied not only to our brains but also to events
> > recorded outside of our brains. Someone with Alzheimers still has a
> > history (and also an identity) recorded externally to their brains, a
> > history that can be read by other persons. I know, the quantum
> > superposition view entails that there are multiple histories being
> > read by multiple persons in multiple universes. As I have said before
> > on this list, I think that this just multiplies the problem. If your
> > identity is tied only to your brain, and the first person observer
> > moments that it can experience based solely on internal "memory", then
> > you have multiple people in multiple universes treating the Alzheimers
> > patient as worthless (since they know that the patient cannot remember
> > these accomplishments), and multiple Alzheimers patients believing
> > that he/she is worthless, with no identity so speak of. What's wrong
> > with the view that our memory is augmented by the external world
> > around us? In fact, it has been discussed here before that perhaps
> > consciousness itself needs a world external to our "brains" in order
> > to keep living. I'm for the view that life/consciousness/everything
> > is about relationships rather than data.
>
> The Alzheimer's patient is significant to other people because they
> remember him and maintain a relationship with him. If he has forgotten
> who exactly they are but still retains some sort of emotional
> attachment to them - "the nice woman who has come to visit me" - then
> that is a feeling and it is part of the content of the observer
> moment. But as memory and cognition deteriorate and only the
> vegetative functions remain, then unfortunately what makes the person
> a person is fading away. That's why it's so sad when a family member
> gets Alzheimer's.
>
> --
> Stathis Papaioannou
>
Another way to look at it (in a non-"everything is OMs" view) is that
it's sad because the apparent opportunity to appreciate the person is
fading.
Tom
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Received on Wed Apr 23 2008 - 02:39:07 PDT