"Indistinguishability" in my original argument was meant as a behavior change that reflects the subject's awareness of a change in consciousness. The replacement indistinguishability is not transitive. Regardless of how many are replaced in any order there cannot be a behavior change, even if it goes as A to B, A to C, A to D...
I think we differ in that I assumed that a change in consciousness can be manifested in a behavior change. You may disagree with this and claim that consciousness can change without the behavior being able to change.
"It feels strange to me, somewhat analogous to arguing that Bigfoot can't do magic while neglecting to mention that he also doesn't exist."
I assumed that the assumptions used would resonate with people. I used to believe in a rigid soul like concept of identity when I was a child, likely stemming from my religious upbringing. Thinking of an argument similar to what I wrote is what relaxed my once rigid view of identity.
"...I don't really care if my identity is preserved in this particular form. I just care about having positive experiences."
I think this is...
"There is an assumption here that your future self shares an identity with your current self that other people don't, which is called Closed Individualism."
I actually wrote the argument for people who believe in Closed Individualism. I myself subscribe to Open Individualism. The purpose was to convince people who subscribe to Closed Individualism to not reject cryonics on the basis that their identity will be lost. Some people, even if revived after cryonics, may worry that their identity has fundamentally changed which can lead to an existential crisis.
"I...
Let P(n) designate the proposition that the procedure does not alter current or future consciousness if n neurons are replaced at once.
2. Suppose P(k) is true for some number k. Then replacing k neurons does not change consciousness for the present or future. Replace a single extra neuron in a neglible amount of time since the former replacement, such as the reaction time of a single neuron divided by the total number of neurons in the brain. #Replacing a single neuron on an unaltered consciousness with a functional ...
Gödel established fundamental limits on a very specific notion of "knowing", a proof, that is, a sequence of statements that together justify a theorem to be true with absolute certainty.
If one relaxes the definition of knowing by removing the requirement of absolute certainty within a finite time, then one is not so restricted by Gödel's theorem. Theorems regarding nonfractional numbers such as what Gödel used can be known to be true or false in the limit by checking each number to check whether the theorem holds.
Theorems of the nature "there exists...
Where did I say "times"? I meant that kN neurons are effectively replaced at once. I said in the argument that the neurons are replaced with a neglible time difference.
If plucking hairs changes my beard then there will be a point at which it is noticeable before it is completely gone. My beard does not go from existing to not existing in a single pluck.
My consciousness does not go from existing to not existing in a single neuron pluck. My identity does not radically change in a single pluck. There is a continuum of small changes that lead to large changes. There will come a point at which the changes accumulate that can be noticed.
Note that I'm not referring to gradual changes through time, but a single procedure occurri...
The philosophical problems people have with identity may seem silly, but many people are affected by it. Some people who may otherwise have no problems with cryonics or other preservation techniques will choose guaranteed death because they don't intuitively think their consciousness will persist. That is why I think it is so significant. People who doubt for practical reasons can be convinced in time if the technology comes up to speed, but those who deny it for philosophical reasons may never be convinced regardless of technological advancements.
An easy ...
>Heisenberg's uncertainty principle clearly demostrates that there are claims about the physical world that we can't evaluate as through or false through observation and science.
What you are saying implies, for example, that a particle's momentum has a precise value but cannot be known by observation if the particle's position is known with certainty. How do know this? It could just as well be that the particle's position and momentum are mutually exclusive to a degree such that if the position is known with high certainty, then the momentum does not ha...
If I continually pluck hairs from my beard then I have noticeably less of a beard. Eventually I will have no beard. Replacing some neurons with the given procedure does not change behavior so the subject cannot notice a change. If the subject noticed a change then there would be a change in behavior. If you assert that a change in consciousness occurred, then you assert that a change in consciousness does not produce a change in consciousness to notice it.
We can fall asleep without noticing, but there is always a way to notice the changes. One can decide t...
Ok, #5 was a bit strong for this, though I must argue that Heisenberg's uncertainty principle itself was discovered through observation. Using a claim justified by observation and experiment to undermine the sufficiency of observation with regards to evaluating claims in general seems off to me.
If a change or thing has no observable effects, how can one claim that that change or thing exists? Eliezer himself believes that the Many-Worlds Hypothesis has observable effects, namely anthropic immortality, which can be tested if one is willing.
Bayesian updating...
All proofs at least implicitly contain the conclusion in the assumptions or axioms. That's because proofs don't generate information, they just unravel what one has already assumed by definition or axioms.
So yes, I'm implicitly assuming the conclusion in the assumptions. The point of the proof was to convince people who agreed with all the assumptions in the first place but who did not believe in the conclusion. There are people who do believe the assumptions but do not agree with the conclusion, which, as you say is in the assumptions.