[extropy-chat] Fragmentation of computations

[Jef Allbright]

On 3/26/07, Russell Wallace <russell.wallace at gmail.com> wrote:

> Here's another reductio ad absurdum: suppose the Simulation Argument is
> true, and we are in fact all Hash-Life Men right now. Suppose furthermore
> the Simulator flips a switch to turn off the Hash Life optimization and
> change the program to straight linear computation. Now we've gone from being
> 90-something% zombies to being fully conscious, surely a marvellous boost.
> Do we sing in rapturous joy as the wonder of full consciousness floods
> through our minds? But by hypothesis the output remains identical to what it
> would have been. Do we silently gibber in panic as our bodies go about their
> daily routine, oblivious to our attempts to cry out in joy followed by
> consternation? At this rate conscious rocks are starting to look downright
> sensible.

Or at some point we realize that the heavens do not circle the Earth,
and we go outside and enjoy the experience anyway...and go on to
imagine ways of breaking even further bonds of thought.

- Jef