--
On Mon, 31 Aug 1998 00:41:57 -0400 "John Clark" <jonkc@worldnet.att.net>
writes:
>Note: I'm not signing this post because I find the new improved
>PGP 5.5.5 a royal pain in the ass to use and it seems to
>stick in line breaks at random.
You should use CryptoKong. :) Easy to use, just as free.
>Randall R Randall rrandall6@juno.com Wrote:
>
> >*I* do not disagree that the two are different people.
> >It did seem odd to me that *you* expressed the same view
>
>Why?
Because I had understood you to say that two copies of a person were not two *similar* people, but the *same* person.
> >you have previously stated that you believe (correct me if I
> >err)that two physical instances of exactly the same pattern of
> >mind are really only one person.
>
>Yes, but what does that have to do with the thought experiment we were
>discussing? These two are not of the exact same pattern of mind or even
>approximately so, one is terrified and in despair and the other is not.
>Also, the amount of time that passed since the two copies were made by
>itself is irrelevant, the important thing is how much they have changed
>not how long ago they were made. When it gets to the point that one is
>having thoughts the other is not then there are two people, if not then
>there is only one, and it doesn't matter if it takes one minute or one
>decade.
But by this same criterion, you are not the same
person that wrote this post, and you weren't even
30 seconds later! This seems nonsensical, since
it implies that the death of people goes on all the
time, inevitably (and that therefore the sudden
termination of someone's body is nothing to get
excited about).
You keep saying that because they are in different
states of mind (one terrified, one complacent), that
they are radically different, and I don't see that. I was
terrified last night (close auto accident), but I am not
a substantially a different person today because of
it.
--digsig
Wolfkin.
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Itw4t+ZXJguT+RAML6Xj3oMjBt/B6B7tE/fkGEs+
4EnsPsYVlTVmZNVIlRMnA5y19w45h913kjlI10F/l
wolfkin@flatoday.infi.net | ICQ: 3043097
E-Gold Acct: 100678 @ www.e-gold.com
On a visible but distant shore a new image of man,
The shape of his own future, now in his own hands.
| Johnny Clegg
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