A view on cryonics (was Re: [extropy-chat] Bad Forecasts!)

[Slawomir Paliwoda]

> Let's set aside the technical/philosophical aspects for a moment.  How
> would it feel to *find out* that you are the copy?  How would it feel to
> *be* the copy?  Why?

John K. Clark asked a similar question. I'm going to answer it even though
the answer is irrelevant to what defines identity, and to the debate.

If I found out I was the copy, then I, the copy, would feel great that my
subjective experience still exists. How would it feel to be the copy? It
would feel exactly the same as being the original. That doesn't mean I would
be the original. If I, the original, were dead, then my subjective
experience would register nothingness regardless of how many of my living
and breathing copies might be out there.

Obviously, this is all beside the point. How I feel about my identity does
not define what it is.

Slawomir