From: Chen Yixiong, Eric (cyixiong@yahoo.com)
Date: Sun Feb 03 2002 - 18:38:54 MST
> Back to the 'raison', think of dead universes, and the desire for enjoying
> watching them brought to life (digital or otherwise) and seeing evolving uber
> minds evolving is many of those. Kind of fun for the uber minds, especially
> if the results are difficult to predict.
How do we know we can fulfill all the following criteria:
1) live in a computer simulation
2) have sentient beings outside the simulation taking an interest in us
3) that sentient beings actually bringing us "alive"
4) that they will treat us with pleasant circumstances
5) that no accidents will occur to break this thread of events (like a computer crash)
-- and --
6) that we have a sufficient definition of what we call the "self"
[what do we mean by the self?]
7) that it still matters after we die (as our "original" consciousness had disappeared
[if someone made a copy of you and instantiate you at another place, does it matter to the original "you"?]
8) that our host universe will last forever, or it consists of a simulation that will fulfill the above creteria and this forever
(in a never-ending loop)
What if we have to die one day? How would we confront with the situation that, despite our technological powress and knowledge, we
will still have to die?
The purpose of existance I seek does not concern itself with absolute "right" and "wrong", or even a factual answer (like genes and
"preprogrammed" disires). It does not matter who and what preprogrammed, predisposed or did whatever to our universe, but why do we
even bother to continue subjecting ourselves to these assuming that we could break free of these and look at the question
objectively. The factual answers may give an apparent meaning, but that provides only an illusion (or a "sham", as Plato puts it).
This question concerns itself with every one of us, asking: "Why do you bother to live when you have to die eventually? You want to
achieve this or that, but do they really matter if everyone has to die eventually?"
Strangely, this being still does not understand the preceptions of others who thought this question has lesser importance or
relevance.
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