I think the most practical / accurate way of conceiving of individuality is through the connection of your perceptions through memory. You are the same person as 3 years ago, because you remember being that person (not only rationally, but on a deeper level of knowing and feeling that you were that person). Of course different persons will not share the memory of being the same person. So if we conceive of individuality in the way we actually experience individuality (which I think is most reasonable), there is not much sense in saying that many persons living right know are the same person, no matter how much they share certain memes. Even for an outside observer this is true, since people express enough of their memory to the outside world to understand that their memories form distinct life stories.
It may be true to say that many persons share a cultural identity or share a meme space, but this does make them the same person, since they do not share their personal identity.
So unless your AI is dumb and does not understand what individuality consists of it won’t say that there are only thousands of people.
I might be true though that at some point in the future some people that have different memories right know will merge into one entity and thus share the same memory (if the singularity happens I think it is not that unlikely). Then we could say that different persons living right now might not be different persons ultimately, but they still are different persons right now.
You are the same person as 3 years ago, because you remember being that person (not only rationally, but on a deeper level of knowing and feeling that you were that person)
Two things:
1) Can you clarify what you mean by “rationally remembering” here?
2) If you’re actually talking about “knowing and feeling that I am that person,” then you aren’t talking about memory at all. There are many, many events that I do not remember, but which I “know and feel” I was involved in—my birth, for example.
If you define my “personal identity” as including those things, that’s OK with me… I do, as well… but it’s not clear to me that there’s a sharp line between saying that, and saying that my “personal identity” can include events at which my body was not present but which I “know and feel” I was involved in.
(Just to be clear: I’m not suggesting anything mystical here. I’m talking about the psychological constituents of identity.)
I’m not sure there’s anything to say about that other than, if I do identify with those things, then those things are part of my identity.
To put that more affirmitively: if personal identity is a matter of what I “know and feel,” then it is a psychological construct very much like cultural identity and family identity, and those constructs flow into one another with no sharp dividing lines, and therefore discussions of where “personal identity” ends and “cultural identity” begins is entirely a discussion of how we choose to define those terms, not actually a discussion about their referents.
I think the most practical / accurate way of conceiving of individuality is through the connection of your perceptions through memory. You are the same person as 3 years ago, because you remember being that person (not only rationally, but on a deeper level of knowing and feeling that you were that person). Of course different persons will not share the memory of being the same person. So if we conceive of individuality in the way we actually experience individuality (which I think is most reasonable), there is not much sense in saying that many persons living right know are the same person, no matter how much they share certain memes. Even for an outside observer this is true, since people express enough of their memory to the outside world to understand that their memories form distinct life stories. It may be true to say that many persons share a cultural identity or share a meme space, but this does make them the same person, since they do not share their personal identity. So unless your AI is dumb and does not understand what individuality consists of it won’t say that there are only thousands of people.
I might be true though that at some point in the future some people that have different memories right know will merge into one entity and thus share the same memory (if the singularity happens I think it is not that unlikely). Then we could say that different persons living right now might not be different persons ultimately, but they still are different persons right now.
Two things:
1) Can you clarify what you mean by “rationally remembering” here?
2) If you’re actually talking about “knowing and feeling that I am that person,” then you aren’t talking about memory at all. There are many, many events that I do not remember, but which I “know and feel” I was involved in—my birth, for example.
If you define my “personal identity” as including those things, that’s OK with me… I do, as well… but it’s not clear to me that there’s a sharp line between saying that, and saying that my “personal identity” can include events at which my body was not present but which I “know and feel” I was involved in.
(Just to be clear: I’m not suggesting anything mystical here. I’m talking about the psychological constituents of identity.)
I’m not sure there’s anything to say about that other than, if I do identify with those things, then those things are part of my identity.
To put that more affirmitively: if personal identity is a matter of what I “know and feel,” then it is a psychological construct very much like cultural identity and family identity, and those constructs flow into one another with no sharp dividing lines, and therefore discussions of where “personal identity” ends and “cultural identity” begins is entirely a discussion of how we choose to define those terms, not actually a discussion about their referents.