Re: #1… there are all kinds of emotional considerations here, of course; I really don’t know what I would do, much as I don’t know what I would do given a similar deal involving my real-life brother or husband. But if I leave all of that aside, and I also ignore total expected utility calculations, then I prefer to continue living and let my copy die.
Re: #2… within some range of Ns where there aren’t significant knock-on effects unrelated to what I think you’re getting at (e.g., creating too much competition for the things I want, losing the benefits of cooperation among agents with different comparative advantages, etc.), I prefer that N+1 copies of me exist than N copies. More generally, I prefer the company of people similar to me, and I prefer that there be more agents trying to achieve the things I want more of in the world.
Re: #3… I’m not sure. My instinct is to make just one copy rather than accept the 20% penalty in quality of life, but it’s not an easy choice; I acknowledge that I ought to value the hundred copies more.
I’m not trying to back you into a corner, but it seems like your responses to #1 and #3 indicate that you value the original more than the others, which seems to imply that the copies would be less you. From your answer to #2, I came up with another question. Would you value uploading and copying just as much if somehow the copies were P-zombies? It seems like your answers to #1-3 would be the same in that case.
I don’t value the original over the others, but I do value me over not-me (even in situations where I can’t really justify that choice beyond pure provincialism).
A hypothetical copy of me created in the future is just as much me (hypothetically) as the actual future me is, but a hypothetical already-created copy of a past me is not me. The situation is perfectly symmetrical; if someone makes a copy of me and asks the copy the question in #1, I give the same answer as when they ask the original.
I have trouble answering the P-zombie question, since I consider P-zombies an incoherent idea. I mean, if I can’t tell the difference between P-zombies and genuine people, then I react to my copies just the same as if they were genuine people… how could I do anything else?
Re: #1… there are all kinds of emotional considerations here, of course; I really don’t know what I would do, much as I don’t know what I would do given a similar deal involving my real-life brother or husband. But if I leave all of that aside, and I also ignore total expected utility calculations, then I prefer to continue living and let my copy die.
Re: #2… within some range of Ns where there aren’t significant knock-on effects unrelated to what I think you’re getting at (e.g., creating too much competition for the things I want, losing the benefits of cooperation among agents with different comparative advantages, etc.), I prefer that N+1 copies of me exist than N copies. More generally, I prefer the company of people similar to me, and I prefer that there be more agents trying to achieve the things I want more of in the world.
Re: #3… I’m not sure. My instinct is to make just one copy rather than accept the 20% penalty in quality of life, but it’s not an easy choice; I acknowledge that I ought to value the hundred copies more.
I’m not trying to back you into a corner, but it seems like your responses to #1 and #3 indicate that you value the original more than the others, which seems to imply that the copies would be less you. From your answer to #2, I came up with another question. Would you value uploading and copying just as much if somehow the copies were P-zombies? It seems like your answers to #1-3 would be the same in that case.
Thanks for being so accommodating, really.
I don’t value the original over the others, but I do value me over not-me (even in situations where I can’t really justify that choice beyond pure provincialism).
A hypothetical copy of me created in the future is just as much me (hypothetically) as the actual future me is, but a hypothetical already-created copy of a past me is not me. The situation is perfectly symmetrical; if someone makes a copy of me and asks the copy the question in #1, I give the same answer as when they ask the original.
I have trouble answering the P-zombie question, since I consider P-zombies an incoherent idea. I mean, if I can’t tell the difference between P-zombies and genuine people, then I react to my copies just the same as if they were genuine people… how could I do anything else?