Exactly, Vassar. And if you say that you’re not making an image, that’s also dishonest. It’s like telling a cryonics patient that he’s made out of the same atoms, or alternatively, telling him that he’s not made out of the same atoms, or alternatively, remaining silent and letting him draw his own conclusions. No matter what you do, you can’t convey the truth.
Wait, now I am confused again. To be clear, it would still be meaningful to say “You are still made of meat, you are running on neurons substantially similar to the ones you were using when you died,” right? Basically, the problem here is that whether you say yes same atoms or no, you are implicitly confirming the questioner’s mistaken billiard ball model of atoms?
Exactly, Vassar. And if you say that you’re not making an image, that’s also dishonest. It’s like telling a cryonics patient that he’s made out of the same atoms, or alternatively, telling him that he’s not made out of the same atoms, or alternatively, remaining silent and letting him draw his own conclusions. No matter what you do, you can’t convey the truth.
This is part of the hell of being a rationalist.
Wait, now I am confused again. To be clear, it would still be meaningful to say “You are still made of meat, you are running on neurons substantially similar to the ones you were using when you died,” right?
Basically, the problem here is that whether you say yes same atoms or no, you are implicitly confirming the questioner’s mistaken billiard ball model of atoms?