Re: Heed Clarification on MW from Russell Standish on 1999-12-16 (everything)

From: Russell Standish <R.Standish.domain.name.hidden>
Date: Thu, 16 Dec 1999 21:49:37 +1100 (EST)

>
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> Russel Standish wrote in part
> > > So you were actually able to control the probability of
> > outcomes? What's
> > > the secret? I'd like to know how you did it. :)
> > >
> >
> > All I do is repeat the desired for out come 3 times over (neither more
> > or less). However, I'm sure any type of meditative technique would
> > work as well provided you're convinced it will work.
>
> Hard to say if this is humor, incredibly close to crackpotism or way,
> way past :-).
>

Take it as you will. I don't take it terribly seriously, but it's not
meant to be humour.

> Let me try to extract one possible grain of truth from your voodoo
> magic, if you will.
> This is, in part, related to the question; Why do I not find myself to
> be an ant?
> The number of ants vastly outnumbers the number of humans. So I should
> be suprised to find myself human. (We could put it like this; assuming
> ignorance on the ratio ants/human, and given the fact that I'm human, a
> guess would be that the number of ants is not vastly greater than the
> number of humans.)
> A reasonable explanation for this is that ants have a lower degree of
> consciousness.

Another possibility is that ants are not self-aware. It seems a little
improbable that ants might be reflecting on these sorts of
philosophical issues.

> So, this may be taken to say that we are more likely to find ourselves
> in a world where we have a greater degree of consciousness.
>
> Now, if we could somehow affect this measure ourselves, we would
> actually be given a small amount of 'additional control' of the world.
> One example is the infamous Quantum Suicide, where we regulate the
> amount of consciousness by simply killing ourselves if things don't go
> the way we want them.
>
> I take it you are suggesting that you can control your measure of
> consciousness more fine-grained than by QS. One example could be that a
> total lack of intellectual stimulus would lead to a zombie-mode of
> sorts, possibly reducing the measure.
> One subtle question inevitably pops up; Who has greater measure - a guy
> living life to its fullest, having daily one night stands with
> supermodels and no worries what so ever? Or someone doing a lot of
> thinking (i.e. being bored).
> Am I more likely to find myself bored than others?
> :-)
>

Why is thinking boring? As to the above question, the person thinking
will have greater measure (all else being equal), simply because e
is not undertaking risky activities, compared with the other person.

> Having said that, I'm not even sure Quantum Suicide would do any good.
> Either way, one thing is for sure; In my world you are fooling yourself
> and your dice-tricks never worked.
>

Exactly. Well, at very least, I could not repeat the act to prove it
to you.

> Anyway, I wish, I wish, I wish I find myself in a world where I'm having
> sex with Denise Richards....
> *nothing yet*,

Good luck with her - whoever she is!

> Niclas Thisell
>
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> Russel Standish wrote in part
> > > So you were actually able to control the =
> probability of 
> > outcomes?  What's 
> > > the secret?  I'd like to know how you =
> did it.  :)
> > > 
> > 
> > All I do is repeat the desired for out come 3 =
> times over (neither more
> > or less). However, I'm sure any type of =
> meditative technique would
> > work as well provided you're convinced it will =
> work.
> 
> Hard to say if this is humor, incredibly close to =
> crackpotism or way, way past :-).
> 
> Let me try to extract one possible grain of truth =
> from your voodoo magic, if you will.
> This is, in part, related to the question; Why do I =
> not find myself to be an ant?
> The number of ants vastly outnumbers the number of =
> humans. So I should be suprised to find myself human. (We could put it =
> like this; assuming ignorance on the ratio ants/human, and given the =
> fact that I'm human, a guess would be that the number of ants is not =
> vastly greater than the number of humans.)
> A reasonable explanation for this is that ants have a =
> lower degree of consciousness.
> So, this may be taken to say that we are more likely =
> to find ourselves in a world where we have a greater degree of =
> consciousness.
> 
> Now, if we could somehow affect this measure =
> ourselves, we would actually be given a small amount of 'additional =
> control' of the world. One example is the infamous Quantum Suicide, =
> where we regulate the amount of consciousness by simply killing =
> ourselves if things don't go the way we want them.
> 
> I take it you are suggesting that you can control =
> your measure of consciousness more fine-grained than by QS. One example =
> could be that a total lack of intellectual stimulus would lead to a =
> zombie-mode of sorts, possibly reducing the measure.
> One subtle question inevitably pops up; Who has =
> greater measure - a guy living life to its fullest, having daily one =
> night stands with supermodels and no worries what so ever? Or someone =
> doing a lot of thinking (i.e. being bored).
> Am I more likely to find myself bored than =
> others?
> :-)
> 
> Having said that, I'm not even sure Quantum Suicide =
> would do any good.
> Either way, one thing is for sure; In my world you =
> are fooling yourself and your dice-tricks never worked.
> 
> Anyway, I wish, I wish, I wish I find myself in a =
> world where I'm having sex with Denise Richards....
> *nothing yet*,
> Niclas Thisell
> 
>
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----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Standish Director
High Performance Computing Support Unit,
University of NSW Phone 9385 6967
Sydney 2052 Fax 9385 6965
Australia R.Standish.domain.name.hidden
Room 2075, Red Centre http://parallel.hpc.unsw.edu.au/rks
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Received on Thu Dec 16 1999 - 02:49:12 PST

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