From: Anders Sandberg (asa@nada.kth.se)
Date: Tue Feb 11 2003 - 03:12:57 MST
On Tue, Feb 11, 2003 at 09:22:38AM +1030, Emlyn O'regan wrote:
> The classic reason for parallel universes to be depressing is because they
> negate free will. No matter what "you" decide to do here, somewhere else
> every other possible choice (and action) is made by "you" (and by your
> environment). Here, while you are eating your breakfast, somewhere else an
> infinite amount of instances of yourself are shooting themselves in the
> head. Or picking their nose. Or shaving a hampster. So what ultimately
> constitutes you, if your decisions are diluted by the effects of infinity?
One solution is what I call megalomaniacal pantheism. We are the
universe interacting with and experiencing itself. Self-aware subsets of
the great whole are the ones doing most of this, and since they are
often relatively isolated from each other they consider themselves to be
individual selves while they are actually just arbitrary subsets. So
when in this mindset one can drift between considering onself to be the
entire universe (a somewhat Buddhist experience; the destruction of a
particular subset is on no concern since the real Self will by
definition continue) and a tool for the universe to make itself even
better (according to the "program" of the tool; this is where one gets
ambition and energy to really do something rather than contentedly
navel-gaze). It is all a huge game of solitaire.
I believe this metaphysics mainly on mondays and tuesdays.
-- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Anders Sandberg Towards Ascension! asa@nada.kth.se http://www.nada.kth.se/~asa/ GCS/M/S/O d++ -p+ c++++ !l u+ e++ m++ s+/+ n--- h+/* f+ g+ w++ t+ r+ !y
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