[ExI] Let's play What If.

[John Clark]

On Nov 14, 2010, at 11:59 AM, Alan Grimes wrote:
> 
> Science has not, and cannot make any claims about metaphysics.

There are an infinite number of metaphysical theories that fit the known facts, and without science there is no way to know which one is right; except that even metaphysics needs to be self consistent. So lets see where your intuitive feeling that atoms are the key to identity leads.

The human bladder has a capacity of at least 300cc, so assuming you weigh about 75 kilograms you will lose almost half of one percent of your identity every time you visit the mens room. However this loss of self need not be permanent because whenever you insert a donut into your head beyond your teeth the atoms in the donut undergo transubstantiation and they are no longer just atoms, they are now YOUR atoms. This change in the atoms of the donut (caused by some sort of mysterious transubstantiation field that envelops the body) is of monumental importance but is completely undetectable by the scientific method. Also, you need not worry about getting fat from all those donuts because fat is good, fat people have a stronger identity than thin people, they have more consciousness because they have more atoms.

Alan, is this a metaphysical theory you want to quite literally stake your life on?

> Science can erode some of the edges of what was previously metaphysics by weeding out some of the more-wrong understandings of the world, but it can't do much more than that.

You seem to be implying that something CAN do better than that. Please elaborate! 

> The identity issue in uploading is precisely the type of question that
> science is utterly mute about.

Religion is certainly not mute about matters of this sort, but it would be better if it was; however religious people do so enjoy flapping their gums and pontificating about things they have no way of knowing anything about. I agree with Ludwig Wittgenstein about one thing, "What we cannot speak about we must pass over in silence".

> It is logically impossible to repeat the experiment of destructively uploading someone.

Repeat? It is impossible to perform the experiment even once until you explain exactly what is destroyed in a destructive upload. If it is the soul, something of enormous importance that is nevertheless completely undetectable by the scientific method then obviously the theory cannot be disproven by an experiment. But I ask you again, is this really a metaphysical theory that you want to quite literally stake your life on?

  John K Clark

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