[ExI] ai

[Ben Zaiboc]

On 23/06/2023 06:37, bill w wrote:
> The dilemma reminds me of the story of the boat which, over the years, 
> has had every part replaced.  Is it the same boat?  I'd say No. bill w

This is one of those questions where the answer depends on your 
perspective. I'd say your answer is correct from one perspective, but 
incorrect from another.

Is a person which, over the years, has had every part replaced, the same 
person?

This is not a silly or spurious question. All of our cells, tissues and 
organs are constantly being replaced. Even the organelles in individual 
cells are constantly being torn down and rebuilt from new molecules. 
This is the same as the boat. If you think it's not the same boat, you 
must also think you're not the same bill. Do you really tie your 
identity to the speed at which various components of your body get 
replaced? I certainly feel I have a continuity of identity throughout my 
life, despite the constant recycling of my molecules, frequent 
interruptions of my consciousness, and even deep anasthaesia several times.

For me at least, it's not the atoms that are important, it's the 
patterns that they form. As long as the pattern stays the same, I'd say 
that the boat is the same boat, no matter how many times its parts are 
replaced. After all, we know that there's no difference between, for 
example, one carbon 13 atom and another. They don't have individual 
identities, you can swap them around with absolutely no difference to 
the system they are part of.

So I'd say that technically, the boat is different, because it's parts 
are all swapped over, but in practice, it makes no difference. The boat 
looks the same and behaves the same, so it's the same boat.

So what if two boats look and behave exactly the same? I hear you say.

That's a subject for another post.

Ben