Re: I am me, right? What if I wasn\'t completely me? Would I still ex
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Physically, I was once a single sperm and a single egg, right? What if in the race to the egg, the sperm beside the one that created me had won? Would I still be alive today? What is it that makes me who I am? Is this a stupid question? That's the thought that has always confused me about identical twins. They both came from the same egg and sperm, right? So even though they split and became 2 different people, what if they hadn't split? Which one of them would exist? I'm probably going to be roasted for asking such a dumb question. I'm just curiuos about some of your thoughts.
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I wanted to start a similar thread so the hijack is intentional but related:
I’m a sci-fi fan, and like to dwell on some of the ramifications of fantastical technologies. A lot of stories I’ve read recently offer immortality by re-constituting your body exactly (or nearly so) as it was at time of death and/or offer some form of instantaneous travel that does the same/similar using this technology (ala Star Trek transporter/replicator).
An Outer Limits episode was like this: We are in contact with an advanced alien race that sets up on the moon and transfers select individuals to their planet in some kind of exchange program. Once the transmission of “you” is complete and confirmed, they destroy the orginal “you”.
It bother’s me, that although I’m an atheist, I’m uncomfortable with the idea, and would never consider the reconstituted “me”, me but a duplicate. I don’t believe in a soul/spirit/essence. I still can’t shake the idea that putting some atoms together in the exact same configuration as mine is “me”. I don’t have issue with me being dead, (I’m dead, duh) I have issue with me voluntarily choosing to be killed/rebuilt (to go to Mars for example).
If something were to happen in the process, or If the two could be separated. I’m pretty sure I and all the me 2.xx would all be trying to hunt down and kill each other. The only real benefit to having duplicates IMO, would be to sacrifice them; yet as exactly “me” they would not cooperate to any such plans (or more likely betray me 1.0).
Thoughts?
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