[extropy-chat] Mangled Worlds

[Lee Corbin]

Eliezer wrote

> Follow the computation, not the mist; this is a more sophisticated 
> version of the mental error of following material substances to 
> determine personal identity.

A valuable insight.  For me, it's almost tantamount to a semantic
point: we probably do not want to refer to any processes lacking
causality as "people" or as conscious entities of any kind.

Probably central is "the speed of the mangling process" as Robin 
later called it. In Hal's graphic description, one may find oneself
in a semi-chaotic universe wherein one has a few seconds (or, if 
one is thinking about the Middle East, a few years) of horrible
realization before everything disintegrates.

But I infer that Robin's "small relative-sized" universes in 
configuration space get wasted by their big neighbors awfully
fast. I'm just guessing, but phenomena with salient quantum
(non-classical) aspects I would expect to transpire quickly.

Also, wouldn't the chaos afflicting the victim universe have as
one of its first priorities the disruption of complicated systems
like our brains?   So: doesn't this then devolve into the usual
mild worry over the small measure hell-branches of the MWI?

Lee