I'm not going to go into the Ship of Theseus. It's a quick thought experiment you can read here: http://ift.tt/1i6rzkF
What I'll do is give an updated version that involves replacing organic brain components, instead of pieces of a ship.
In scenario A, Ben wants to cheat death by replacing his brain with a mechanical version. Ben is put in suspended animation, so all biological processes are stopped, and Ben's brain is imaged down to the atomic level. Then, a mechanical version is built that is identical to the organic brain. The only difference is all the organic components have been replaced by functionally equivalent mechanical components. The mechanical brain will have the same memories, process information the same way, respond to stimuli the same way, produce the same feelings and emotions, etc.
So Ben is frozen, his brain is scanned, the mechanical brain is built, the organic brain is removed and set aside, and the mechanical brain is "installed". Ben is then revived.
To an outside observer, Ben is still Ben. He acts and talks just like he always did. Of course, the question is, is it really Ben, or just a copy? If we put Ben's organic brain that was removed back into a brainless body (using the scan of Ben's brain to make sure all the pieces are assembled in the right way), wouldn't that be "the real Ben"? If a mechanically duplicate brain hadn't been built, and we simply transferred Ben's brain to another body, the other body with Ben's organic brain would be Ben. Copying his brain and building a mechanical duplicate shouldn't alter our belief that whatever body Ben's organic brain goes in to is "the real" (or original) Ben.
Scenario B is similar to scenario A, except the replacement process is a bit different. It's spread out over 100 hours (1% replacement per hour). And Ben's organic brain is reassembled at the same time the mechanical components are put into place: as each organic piece comes out, it's put into a force field that will hold it in place, and this is being done according to the scan of Ben's brain that was done.
After 100 hours, Ben's organic brain has been replaced by a mechanical duplicate, the organic brain was rebuilt exactly according to the scan, and we once again have two bodies that both claim to be Ben. In this version, I still think "the real" (or original) Ben is the body with the organic brain. Changing how Ben's brain was replaced and rebuilt doesn't have an impact on what we should consider "the real" Ben- it's still the body with the organic brain.
Scenario C is similar to scenario B, except that Ben is not put in suspended animation. Instead, Ben's organic brain is replaced while Ben is awake and aware, at a rate of 1% per hour (it's a long operation). Ben's brain is scanned continuously while the operation goes on. Nano machines slowly replace the organic parts of Ben's brain with functionally equivalent mechanical parts. After 100 hours, Ben's organic brain is gone, replaced entirely by a functionally equivalent mechanical brain.
As in Scenario B, while all this is going on, the organic parts of Ben's brain that are being removed are being reassembled according to the continuous scanning of Ben's brain into a waiting brainless body. The organic brain is constantly being adjusted, to match the continuous scanning that is going on.
So after 100 hours, once again, there are two bodies that both claim they're Ben (although the body with the organic brain has to be woken up, while the body with the mechanical brain has been awake the whole time). One has Ben's original organic brain (reassembled according to the continuous scanning), the other has the mechanical brain. Except in this last case, it seems (to me at least), that the body with the mechanical brain is the "real Ben". That somehow, Ben's awareness during the process, and slowing the process down into incremental steps, have made a difference in who "the real" (original) Ben is.
If you were to force me to have my brain replaced, scenarios A and B would be terrifying (the same as death), but C wouldn't scare me as badly. Why should that be? The end result is the same: two bodies with identical brains claiming to be me. One with an organic brain, the other with a mechanical one. But since I was awake and aware during the transfer, the mechanical one is "the real me".
Does anyone else share that intuition? If so, why does being awake and aware change things?
What I'll do is give an updated version that involves replacing organic brain components, instead of pieces of a ship.
In scenario A, Ben wants to cheat death by replacing his brain with a mechanical version. Ben is put in suspended animation, so all biological processes are stopped, and Ben's brain is imaged down to the atomic level. Then, a mechanical version is built that is identical to the organic brain. The only difference is all the organic components have been replaced by functionally equivalent mechanical components. The mechanical brain will have the same memories, process information the same way, respond to stimuli the same way, produce the same feelings and emotions, etc.
So Ben is frozen, his brain is scanned, the mechanical brain is built, the organic brain is removed and set aside, and the mechanical brain is "installed". Ben is then revived.
To an outside observer, Ben is still Ben. He acts and talks just like he always did. Of course, the question is, is it really Ben, or just a copy? If we put Ben's organic brain that was removed back into a brainless body (using the scan of Ben's brain to make sure all the pieces are assembled in the right way), wouldn't that be "the real Ben"? If a mechanically duplicate brain hadn't been built, and we simply transferred Ben's brain to another body, the other body with Ben's organic brain would be Ben. Copying his brain and building a mechanical duplicate shouldn't alter our belief that whatever body Ben's organic brain goes in to is "the real" (or original) Ben.
Scenario B is similar to scenario A, except the replacement process is a bit different. It's spread out over 100 hours (1% replacement per hour). And Ben's organic brain is reassembled at the same time the mechanical components are put into place: as each organic piece comes out, it's put into a force field that will hold it in place, and this is being done according to the scan of Ben's brain that was done.
After 100 hours, Ben's organic brain has been replaced by a mechanical duplicate, the organic brain was rebuilt exactly according to the scan, and we once again have two bodies that both claim to be Ben. In this version, I still think "the real" (or original) Ben is the body with the organic brain. Changing how Ben's brain was replaced and rebuilt doesn't have an impact on what we should consider "the real" Ben- it's still the body with the organic brain.
Scenario C is similar to scenario B, except that Ben is not put in suspended animation. Instead, Ben's organic brain is replaced while Ben is awake and aware, at a rate of 1% per hour (it's a long operation). Ben's brain is scanned continuously while the operation goes on. Nano machines slowly replace the organic parts of Ben's brain with functionally equivalent mechanical parts. After 100 hours, Ben's organic brain is gone, replaced entirely by a functionally equivalent mechanical brain.
As in Scenario B, while all this is going on, the organic parts of Ben's brain that are being removed are being reassembled according to the continuous scanning of Ben's brain into a waiting brainless body. The organic brain is constantly being adjusted, to match the continuous scanning that is going on.
So after 100 hours, once again, there are two bodies that both claim they're Ben (although the body with the organic brain has to be woken up, while the body with the mechanical brain has been awake the whole time). One has Ben's original organic brain (reassembled according to the continuous scanning), the other has the mechanical brain. Except in this last case, it seems (to me at least), that the body with the mechanical brain is the "real Ben". That somehow, Ben's awareness during the process, and slowing the process down into incremental steps, have made a difference in who "the real" (original) Ben is.
If you were to force me to have my brain replaced, scenarios A and B would be terrifying (the same as death), but C wouldn't scare me as badly. Why should that be? The end result is the same: two bodies with identical brains claiming to be me. One with an organic brain, the other with a mechanical one. But since I was awake and aware during the transfer, the mechanical one is "the real me".
Does anyone else share that intuition? If so, why does being awake and aware change things?
via International Skeptics Forum http://ift.tt/1Rxwn6n
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