Maybe this overlaps with some of the other points, but for me it seems a sensible way of navigating this situation is to reject the entire notion that their existed a set of obverses, and them “me-ness” was injected into one of them at random. Most of the issues seem to spring from this. If my subjective experience is “bolted on” to a random observer then of course what counts as an observer matters a lot, and it makes sense to be grateful that you are not an ant.
But I can imagine worlds full of agents and observers, where non of them are me. (For example, Middle Earth is full of observers, but I don’t think any of them are me). I can also imagine worlds crammed with philosophical zombies that aren’t carrying the me-ness from me or from anyone else.
I suppose if you take this position to its logical conclusion you end up with other problems. “If I were an ant, I wouldn’t be me.” sounds coherent. “I just rolled a 5 on that die, if it had been a 6 I wouldn’t be me (I would be a slightly different person, with a 6 on their retina)” sounds like gibberish and would result in failing to update to realise the die was weighted.
Nice post, very clear.
Maybe this overlaps with some of the other points, but for me it seems a sensible way of navigating this situation is to reject the entire notion that their existed a set of obverses, and them “me-ness” was injected into one of them at random. Most of the issues seem to spring from this. If my subjective experience is “bolted on” to a random observer then of course what counts as an observer matters a lot, and it makes sense to be grateful that you are not an ant.
But I can imagine worlds full of agents and observers, where non of them are me. (For example, Middle Earth is full of observers, but I don’t think any of them are me). I can also imagine worlds crammed with philosophical zombies that aren’t carrying the me-ness from me or from anyone else.
I suppose if you take this position to its logical conclusion you end up with other problems. “If I were an ant, I wouldn’t be me.” sounds coherent. “I just rolled a 5 on that die, if it had been a 6 I wouldn’t be me (I would be a slightly different person, with a 6 on their retina)” sounds like gibberish and would result in failing to update to realise the die was weighted.