Saul Schleimer
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Saul Schleimer has not written any posts yet.
The first example here is the fossil fuel industry. They are a threat to society itself. This was obvious to me after looking at average monthly temperature data collected since the 1850’s. Of course (considered as monoliths) fossil fuel companies have “known” this since at least the 1950’s. Thus we can reasonably say that they are performing a deliberate slow motion murder of human civilisation (and, possibly, of all mammals bigger than a bread box).
Of course there are other examples. You write
[companies] won’t be …. killing people who don't buy enough of their products
The tobacco industry kills 7 million people every year. So it is more a matter of “killing people who... (read more)
“Omelas Is Perfectly Misread” —> “The ones who misread Omelas”. :)
You ask "But how can I be confident that… it’s the same conscious experience?"
So, how do you feel about going to sleep at night? Because the "you" that goes to sleep is definitely not the same as the "you" who wakes up in the morning. For example, the brain creates long-term memories during sleep. Conversely, you can't "remain the same person" by refusing to sleep; that instead transforms you into a different person who has unpleasant hallucinations.
In short - the constancy of identity is unattainable. The most we can hope for is the continuity of identity. And even that is denied to us for eight hours a night.