[ExI] [tt] Identity thread again

[William Flynn Wallace]

On Fri, Apr 10, 2015 at 11:46 AM, John Clark <johnkclark at gmail.com> wrote:

>
>
> On Thu, Apr 9, 2015  William Flynn Wallace <foozler83 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > ​Even Mother Nature doesn't make identical twins genetically identical,
>>
>
> Genetically they're identical but their phenotype is only similar; two
> dishes may not be identical even though they have the same recipe because
> at least one of the 2 cooks can not or will not follow the recipe exactly.
> And of course after the twins are born their memories are not exactly the
> same either,
>
>  > the idea that drinking a cup of coffee makes me an entirely different
>> person is a bit over the top, isn't it?
>>
>
> Yes that's over the top, but no more so than demanding that copying
> machines in thought experiments operate with 100% perfection.
>
>   John K Clark
>

​Maybe you did not read this article closely.  Ident. twins are often NOT
genetically identical (the article does not address whether epigenetic
changes to the genes may be responsible for the differences- that would
fall into the 'nurture' category if so):

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/identical-twins-genes-are-not-identical/

Yes, I admit to nit-picking thought experiments, but don't you want to know
why they would not work?  It's one thing to write sci-fi stories and
another to contemplate​

​ scenarios that might become real, though sometimes there's no difference.​

The real issue for me, of course, as a psychologist, is the question of
identity/self/ego- what it is and what it isn't.
bill w

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