2008/10/22 razihassan <RaziHassan1.domain.name.hidden>:
> 2) I'd like to propose a thought experiment. A subject has his brain
> cells removed one at a time by a patient assistant using a very fine
> pair of tweezers. The brain cell is then destroyed in an incinerator.
>
> Is there a base level of consciousness beyond which, from the pov of
> the subject, the assistant will be unable to remove any more cells,
> since conscious experience will be lost? ie is there a minimum level
> of 'experience' beyond which nature will appear to act to always
> maintain the physical brain?
>
> If there is, does the second law of thermodynamics not suggest that
> all brains inexorably head towards this quantum of consciousness, for
> as long as our brains are physical?
The problem you raise is one of personal identity, and can be
illustrated without invoking QTI. If I am copied 100 times so that
copy #1 has 1% of my present memories, copy #2 has 2% of my present
memories, and so on to copy #100 which has 100% of my present
memories, which copy should I expect to end up as, and with what
probability? What about if there are a million instantiations of copy
#1 and one instantiation of the rest? What if there are 10^100^100
instantiations of copies with 1/10^100 of my present memories - as
there well might be?
--
Stathis Papaioannou
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group.
To post to this group, send email to everything-list.domain.name.hidden
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to everything-list+unsubscribe.domain.name.hidden
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
Received on Wed Oct 22 2008 - 18:51:49 PDT