[ExI] Minds, Personalities, and Love

[A B]

Mike wrote (among other things):

..."(much like those who are
> currently 'in love'
> with an other via avatar without knowledge of the
> human details behind
> the persona)"...

That's really interesting. Is that a real phenomenon?
I assume it is. I think it's noble that sometimes two
people can love each other based only on their minds
or personalities. It seems more meaningful than two
people who profess "love" based exclusively on the
physical appearance of the other person. In the
future, when we can all change our appearances at
will, it will be the quality of the personality that
serves as the primary attractor. 

This sort of reminds me of the rare occasions when I
have a vivid dream of a "perfect" young lady, whom I
actually develop *real* feelings for. When I wake up
and she disappears, I actually feel a deep sense of
loss. It may sound crazy, but it's best described as a
degree of sadness over the death of a loved one. It
was only my brain that created her in her entirety,
but the feeling is real nonetheless. It makes me
wonder if we do actually create *different* people
within our own brain. I believe we do; but then I've
"always" believed that the continuity of self is an
illusion. This is a real account by the way, I'm not
making this up; and it has happened more than once. I
wonder if anyone else has ever experienced this. Some
people might have been embarrassed to admit this sort
of thing, but I'm not, in fact the whole thing
sometimes feels somewhat tragic.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Herrlich  


--- Mike Dougherty <msd001 at gmail.com> wrote:

> On 6/25/07, Randall Randall
> <randall at randallsquared.com> wrote:
> > > The recent movie "The Prestige" had some very
> strong Transhuman
> > > content besides being the best film of any sort
> made in the last
> > > few years.
> >
> > If by "Transhuman content" you mean
> "anti-transhuman content",
> > of the "trying to better yourself will surely end
> in ruin"
> > variety.
> 
> I think it's more the "killing an exact clone of
> yourself" - are you
> still you, or is your "you" somehow diminished per
> the identity
> thread(s)  Instead of a physical copy as in Tesla's
> machine, the clone
> were your software running on another substrate,
> would you believe you
> had the right to terminate the copy if it were
> unclear who is the
> 'original'
> 
> There's probably some sap in there too for the twins
> loving the same
> woman and her not knowing (much like those who are
> currently 'in love'
> with an other via avatar without knowledge of the
> human details behind
> the persona)
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>
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> 



       
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