[extropy-chat] Mangled Worlds

[Robin Hanson]

At 10:41 AM 2/24/2006, Eliezer S. Yudkowsky  wrote:
>Robin, I don't have time to respond to this in full, at least not today,
>but when you're talking about how mangled worlds look from a
>first-person perspective, you're invoking a transition about whose
>nature you are yourself confused.  It is very dangerous to try and
>manipulate concepts about which you are confused, especially the C-word.

Well I am certainly confused by this paragraph.  C-word = confused?

>People exist atop causal relations in timeless patterns of quantum mist.
>When a blob of timeless quantum mist branches its determination of
>other sectors of quantum configuration space, this is experienced as a
>split, since multiple computations continue from the same original
>state.  When one of the branches overruns a barrier of mist already
>present in greater intensity as the shadow of other blobs, then that
>branch doesn't govern causal relations in that section of configuration
>space; since there is no causal relation, there is no computation, and
>hence no computation continuing from your current state to experience
>anything continued from your current state.

Couldn't I say something similar if I smashed your head in with a hammer?
As I smash your brain I disrupt the causal relations, preventing the relevant
computations, and making you cease to exist.   Still might hurt like hell as
you died though.



Robin Hanson  rhanson at gmu.edu  http://hanson.gmu.edu
Associate Professor of Economics, George Mason University
MSN 1D3, Carow Hall, Fairfax VA 22030-4444
703-993-2326  FAX: 703-993-2323