Quote:You are certain that you have a subjective experience. There is no doubt that you are a conscious being. But how can you know for sure that others are?
Is there anything another person can do to truly convince you that they are conscious too, or is there no way of being absolutely sure?
Quote:If you replace a single braincell with a silicon chip, do you become a robot? Most would say no.
But keep turning brain cells into chips.1% of the brain. 2%, and so forth. Soon your half of your brain will be made out of silicon, and eventually all of it will.
Quote:A scientist, holding a wrench, stands in front of a small robot. As the scientist raises the wrench, the robot whimpers and backs off. It looks scared. The scientist brings the wrench down on the robot and it cries out. The robot desperately tries to crawl away, but it's no use. The scientist hits it again. After having struck it twice more, the robot stops moving. "Don't be alarmed," the scientist says. "It's just a mechanical robot, made out of silicon and metal, that's wired to act like this. It can't possibly feel pain".
A scientist, holding a wrench, stands in front of a small kitten. As the scientist raises the wrench, the kitten whimpers and backs off. It looks scared. The scientist brings the wrench down on the kitten and it cries out. The kitten desperately tries to crawl away, but it's no use. The scientist hits it again. After having struck it twice more, the kitten stops moving. "Don't be alarmed," the scientist says. "It's just a cellular organism, made out of flesh and bone, that's wired to act like this. It can't possibly feel pain".
Quote:A patient arrives at the doctor and complains about intense back pain. The doctor changes the patient's nerves endings so the signals submitted from the affected region are perceived as pleasure. Since then, the patient feels better than ever before.
A prison warden is having trouble handling the upset inmates. A doctor is called for that, who rewires the inmates' brains so starvation, cold and filth are perceived as pleasure. Since then, the inmates have never felt better, and behave much better.
Quote:Most of the time, the patient is clearly in extreme pain and unable to communicate. However, for 10 minutes a day the patient can speak clearly. When asked, the patient has no memories of any torment. In fact, the patient claims to be very happy and enjoy life.
Now it is time to choose whether to continue with life support or not. What do you trust? The statement given by the patient when they are able to communicate, or the terrible screams of agony and muscle spasms that plague most of the patient's life?
Bonus problem:
One person is in terrible pain and the other is very happy. Ending the life of one will end the other's.
Quote:A new mode of transportation has arrived: teleportation.
It works by analyzing all of your atoms and then rebuilding them at a new location. All your atoms are analyzed and rebuilt in the same instant and the process destroys the atom that was analyzed. Thousands of people have already tried this and reported feeling fine afterwards. Will you take a ride?
If your answer is no: Remember that all of your atoms gets replaced at least once during a lifetime. This is the same thing but faster.
If your answer is yes: How long a delay after analysis are you okay with your atoms being destroyed? A millisecond? A second? What is it that sets the limit?
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