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From: mikel@codas.UUCP (Mikel Manitius)
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: Who are you?
Message-ID: <145@codas.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 5-Oct-85 17:09:32 EDT
Article-I.D.: codas.145
Posted: Sat Oct  5 17:09:32 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 7-Oct-85 03:58:08 EDT
References: <3773@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU> <344@madvax.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Information Systems (SDSS) - Orlando
Lines: 50

> > From: "pugh jon%e.mfenet"@LLL-MFE.ARPA
> > 
> > 
> > assume it works on life though.  Creatures notice no ill effects and people
> > feel continuous through the process.
> > 
> > What we have here is a way of spawning processes...
> > this template will feel like they are the original, except that they should
> > know they are copies from a discontinuity in the surroundings.  There is
> > ...
> > I wonder about their first words.  Would they all say the same thing after 
> > walking out of the machine?  Would it be the same thing the original said?
> > How quickly would they pick up on the fact they were not the original?
> > 
> > What if there are a bunch of you walking around?  How do you identify the 
> > original?...
> > decide who got to live again?  Popular vote?  Elvis Lives?
> > 
> > The point I'm trying to make, I guess, is that cheating death may be fun, but 

Actually, if the machine is perfect (which in itself is another problem...),
then they are all the originals, if they are trully atomically identical,
they will probably all be thinking and doing the same things.

Although, I have an idea that what you do is much influenced by your
enviornment, and time itself. Therefore, since more than one copy of
the human, cannot occupy the same space at the same time, I would venture
to say that they could not think the same thing at the same time (with
the possible exceptions), however, their thought patterns wwould be
identical, and if one did something for a reason, you could be sure that
the other would do the same. This would probably change as each copy
had it's own experiences and developed a different character.

I also think that each copy would perceive itself as the original, imagine
yourself, how do you know that you are not a copy of yourself? Weather
or not they could understand that they are copies, would depend on the
intelegence of the original to begin with.

human()
{
	for(;;)
		fork();
}
-- 
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     Mikel Manitius                   ==----=====    AT&T
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     My opinions are my own.            =======