OpenEuphoria

Re: Artificial What?

• Posted by jbrown1050 at hotpop.com May 18, 2003
• 486 views

On Fri, May 16, 2003 at 12:32:29PM -0500, gertie at visionsix.com wrote:
> 
> On 16 May 2003, at 9:29, rolf.schroeder at desy.de wrote:
> 
> > 
> > Robert Craig wrote:
> > > 
> > > ...
> > > They both contain lots of easy-to-read, short essays,
> > > mostly by computer science people, with
> > > cute examples, and philosophical thought experiments.
> > > Things like:
> > >    
> > >    - If you step into a Star Trek transporter on Earth
> > >      and your atoms are separated and scrambled and then
> > >      beamed up to the Space Station and reassembled exactly, is it
> > >      really "you" who steps out of the transporter, or is it an
> > >      exact *copy* of "you", that even "remembers"
> > >      entering the transporter on earth, and behaves exactly the
> > >      way people would expect you to behave, and thinks that it is "you".
> > >      What if different atoms are used on the Space Station,
> > >      but connected together in exactly same way?
> > > 
> > 
> > Hi Rob,
> > 
> > this isn't at all a philosophical experiment, the clear answer is given
> > by physics, quantum mechanics: If atoms are in the same state they are
> > no more different, their are no 'different' atoms possible then! If the
> > atoms of two systems are in number and states are the same, then the two
> > systems (humans) are in the same state and not different at all, they
> > are identical in that moment (which will change normally very soon).
> > 
> > Philosophy is the thinking about problems which could not be proofed
> > otherwise.
> > I got this sentence from a philosopher! Actually, it's no science
> > therefor.
> 
> I believe the question relates to religion, that is: does the original
> physical
> human's spirit also inhabit the reconstructed body?
> 
> Kat
> 

Well, if you use the concept of a soul, and say the answer is yes, then ...
what if something goes wrong with the teleporter, and you get the same person
recieved TWICE? I.e. you now have 2 people. Which one has the original soul?
Or do they somehow "share" a single soul? But of course that implies a sort
of metaphysical link between the 2 persons, a rather unnatural one.

Of course, if the answer is no, then its simpler ... neither person has the
original soul, they just have 2 newborn souls, and the original soul is
dead.

Of course, I don't believe in the idea of a soul. (Since, a soul is asscotiated
with a person's memory and personaility, but its now known to be part of the
brain that handles that, hence I'd feel the concept of a soul is not even
needed,
but that's just my opinion, and there are arguements for it, after all--ghosts,
anyone? But of course thats getting really offtopic....) And, if the idea of
a soul is done away with, the problem goes away too. (Both people are the same
person initially, but as time goes on they become different from each other,
as well as the original person who stepped on the teleporter. This happens
w/o the transporter in fact: are you the same person you were when you were 5?)

Of course, rejecting the idea of a soul or spirit does away with most religions
...

jbrown

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