Even if the Boltzmann brain is completely chaotic, internally it contains the same structures/processes as whatever we find meaningful about Napoleon’s brain. It is only by external context that we can claim that those things are now meaningful.
For us, that may be a valid distinction—how can we talk to or interact with the brain? It’s essentially in it’s own world.
For the Boltzmann!Napoleon, the distinction isn’t remotely meaningful. It’s in it’s own world, and it can’t talk to us, interact with us, or know we are here.
Even if the internal processes of the brain are nothing more than randomised chance, it maps to ‘real’, causal processes in brains in ‘valid’ ontological contexts.
The question is—do those contexts/brains exists, and is there any real distinction between the minds produced by Boltmann!Napoleon, Virtual!Napoleon, etc.? I would say yes, and no. Those contexts exist, and we are really discussing one mind that corresponds to all those processes .
As to why I would say that, it’s essentially Greg Egan’s Dust hypothesis/Max Tegmark’s Mathematical Universe thing.
Even if the Boltzmann brain is completely chaotic, internally it contains the same structures/processes as whatever we find meaningful about Napoleon’s brain. It is only by external context that we can claim that those things are now meaningful.
For us, that may be a valid distinction—how can we talk to or interact with the brain? It’s essentially in it’s own world.
For the Boltzmann!Napoleon, the distinction isn’t remotely meaningful. It’s in it’s own world, and it can’t talk to us, interact with us, or know we are here.
Even if the internal processes of the brain are nothing more than randomised chance, it maps to ‘real’, causal processes in brains in ‘valid’ ontological contexts.
The question is—do those contexts/brains exists, and is there any real distinction between the minds produced by Boltmann!Napoleon, Virtual!Napoleon, etc.? I would say yes, and no. Those contexts exist, and we are really discussing one mind that corresponds to all those processes .
As to why I would say that, it’s essentially Greg Egan’s Dust hypothesis/Max Tegmark’s Mathematical Universe thing.