From: Spudboy100@aol.com
Date: Sun Apr 06 2003 - 12:44:26 MDT
E.S. Yudkowsky, in replying to H. Finney stated:
<<Yes, I think this may be the origin of our disagreement. Under my current
formulation of ethics, I automatically renormalize any number of
duplicates or many-world branches such that their total subjective
probability from my current standpoint is 100%. Why should we renormalize
probabilities for computationally independent branches of many-worlds, and
yet not renormalize them for ordinary duplicates? After the split, the
duplicates will be two independent people who are each worth One Person.
But the original Eliezer, who did the splitting, is also only worth One
Person - that there are two of him in the future does not change this.
Instead, when calculating his One Person's worth, we weight each of
Eliezer-A's and Eliezer-B's futures by 50% apiece, or if it's a
many-worlds branch...>>
I don't mean this post to become a book review, but this author's works
dovetail precisely with this thread, and thus, caught my interest.
In engineer and science fiction writer, Wil McCarthy's books,* the
characters
are limited on scope to a single universe, but "Faxing" using quantum
teleportation is the technological that is operational. Using
something like
Zeilinger's quantum teleportation; people are "backed up" as they
travel at
lightspeed, using this technology. If someone perished between faxes,
(travel) a
residual copy is then generated and the person is brought back to
life, sans the
days weeks or months since the original version was last "faxed."
There is also some slight philosophical reflection, on a
transportation system
that disintegrates (kills) its passengers; resurrects a copy at the
destination
point, on whether it is the same individual, the same personality,
the same
soul? There is reference in McCarthy's novels to a Fax War in the
distant past
(copies battling for ownership)?
Would, that the human species had such a dilemma as faxing/duplications!
Faxing also solves all medical issues, because if someone is seriously
injured, or ill; the solution is to send the patient through the fax at one
end, set the controls to delete the illness or injury, and a fresh copy pops
out the other end, healthy. In essence, most people in McCarthy's works are
immortal.
The duplicates lives on with the intact memories and experiences of the
damaged or deceased original, save that they are fully healthy and young.
Yes, there are more than one copy allowed in McCarthy's solar system, but I
haven't seen how he resolves the grab for resources, identify, legality, or
validity.
*The WellStone- by Wil McCarthy
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