Re: objections to QTI

From: Hal Finney <hal.domain.name.hidden>
Date: Mon, 30 May 2005 09:23:19 -0700 (PDT)

Let me pose the puzzle like this, which is a form we have discussed
before:

Suppose you found yourself extremely old, due to a near-miraculous set
of circumstances that had kept you alive. Time after time when you were
about to die of old age or some other cause, something happened and you
were able to continue living. Now you are 1000 years old in a world
where no one else lives past 120. (We will ignore medical progress for
the purposes of this thought experiment.)

Now, one of the predictions of QTI is that in fact you will experience
much this state, eventually. But the question is this: given that you
find yourself in this circumstances, is this fact *evidence* for the
truth of the QTI? In other words, should people who find themselves
extremely old through miraculous circumstances take it as more likely
that the QTI is true?

Hal Finney
Received on Mon May 30 2005 - 13:14:04 PDT