>In my case the original probably does.
>Of course neither are the same person that existed in that past,
>but if I were the copy I would let the copied assume responsiblity
>for the past, unless it was not so inclined to do so.
This brings to mind an interesting question. Is the clone to be held
responsible for crimes (real crimes, like murder) which were committed by the
"original" sometime just prior to duplication? For example, if I murdered my
wife (I wouldn't & I'm not currently married, but for the sake of an
example...), and then I duplicated myself, and then the law enforcement
officers (whatever kind then exists) arrive to arrest the perpatrator, who do
they arrest? I ask because if the answer is that only the original is
arrested, then criminal types by the dozens would flock to duplication
chambers everywhere, as to avoid (at least on one line of existence)
prosicution. On the other hand, if both the "original" and the cloned copy
were to be prosicuted, then they would need to be put on trial together, a
"strange" arrangement. Any comments or answers?
On another note, I believe the entire idea of punishment as it is known today
will one day become obsolete. When you "punish" someone, it does not improve
or change the crime that has been committed. The real answer, I believe,
lies is changing the fundamental reason the crime was committed (I mean real
crime - force, fraud, coercion), thus preventing future crimes, while
maintaining the person's ability to be a productive individual. In our
techno-advanced future, these crimes will be eliminated by neural
restructuring or some such thing. This may bring up the question of prisons
in the future, before everyone has been "uncriminalized", would it be
permissable, or objectively OK, to make neural modifications by force to
criminals? This would be preferable, I believe, to death or prison. I hope
this brings many comments. Thanks for listening.
Shawn Johnson
e-mail to: ShawnJ99@aol.com
My favorite quote:"Condemnation without investigation is the height of
ignorance."
Anyone know where that quote came from? I forgot. Thanks.