Would it make a difference if the laws of physics prevent or allow a machine from operating in ‘duplicate’ mode?

  • Lemming6969@lemmy.world
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    13 hours ago

    There’s no difference. The universe could be destroying you and recreating you every Planck second, and it’s indistinguishable from continuous existence.

    • Ada@piefed.blahaj.zone
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      11 hours ago

      The problem with that line of thought is that even if it is true, it doesn’t apply here, because when you create a perfect copy of yourself, you don’t magically get a shared continuity where you experience the continuity of both the original and the copy. There would now be two independent chains of experience, and even if every chain of experience is endless destruction with continuity just being a trick of memory, there would still be two divergent continuities now, and one of those would end.

      • Lemming6969@lemmy.world
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        11 hours ago

        True but that’s already happening in theory. All copies would argue they are the original even if their futures diverge. None would think otherwise or have an experience any different than our moment to moment continuity as it stands now. That’s only apparent to a 3rd party.

        • Ada@piefed.blahaj.zone
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          10 hours ago

          From the perspective of a 3rd party, it’s a technicality. From the perspective of the original continued consciousness, it’s not.

          • Lemming6969@lemmy.world
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            9 hours ago

            They would both have the exact same continued consciousness, that only diverges later. Only an outside party can tell there are 2 separate lineages.