It’s helpful in these sorts of problems to ask the question “What would evolution do?”. It always turns out to be coherent, reality-based actions. Even though evolution, to the extent that it “values” things, values different things than I do, I’d like my actions to be comparably coherent and reality-based.
Regarding the first horn: Regardless of whether simple algorithms move “subjective experience” around like a fluid, if the simple algorithms take some resources, evolution would not perform them.
Regarding the second horn: If there was an organism that routinely split, merged, played lottery, and priced side-bets on whether it had won the lottery, then, given zero information about whether it had won the lottery, it would price the side-bet at the standard lottery odds. Splitting and merging, so long as the procedure did not provide any new information, would not affect its price.
Regarding the third horn: Evolution would certainly not create an organism that hurls itself off cliffs without fear. However, this is not because of it “cares” about any thread of subjective experience. Rather, this is because of the physical continuity. Compare this with evolution’s choice in an environment where there are “transporters” that accurately convey entities by molecular disassembly/reassembly. Creatures which had evolved in that environment would certainly step through those transporters without fear.
I can’t answer the fourth or fifth horns; I’m not sure I understand them.
It’s helpful in these sorts of problems to ask the question “What would evolution do?”. It always turns out to be coherent, reality-based actions. Even though evolution, to the extent that it “values” things, values different things than I do, I’d like my actions to be comparably coherent and reality-based.
Regarding the first horn: Regardless of whether simple algorithms move “subjective experience” around like a fluid, if the simple algorithms take some resources, evolution would not perform them.
Regarding the second horn: If there was an organism that routinely split, merged, played lottery, and priced side-bets on whether it had won the lottery, then, given zero information about whether it had won the lottery, it would price the side-bet at the standard lottery odds. Splitting and merging, so long as the procedure did not provide any new information, would not affect its price.
Regarding the third horn: Evolution would certainly not create an organism that hurls itself off cliffs without fear. However, this is not because of it “cares” about any thread of subjective experience. Rather, this is because of the physical continuity. Compare this with evolution’s choice in an environment where there are “transporters” that accurately convey entities by molecular disassembly/reassembly. Creatures which had evolved in that environment would certainly step through those transporters without fear.
I can’t answer the fourth or fifth horns; I’m not sure I understand them.