The issue of the coin flip has certainly surprised me as being one of the most controversial topics of discussion regarding SOMA's numerous thought experiments. I believe that this is because, in general, people are one of two minds regarding the coin flip.
On the one side, you have people claiming the coin flip is not real. After all, the process that produced the extraneous Simons was technological in nature, and thus follows a strict set of logical rules. When Simon sits in the chair, his brain is scanned in a static operation, and the resulting scan is nothing more than inert data. At the moment after the scan is complete, there is still only the one Simon, and since the scan was neither transferring nor destructive, the only logical conclusion is that not only is the Simon in the chair the original Simon, but he can
only ever be the original Simon. And with that being established, it follows that any Simon that is subsequently created from the scan data can only ever be a copy. Because of this, there is not even the slightest element of chance involved in the copy process. Therefore, the concept of the coin flip as Catherine describes it does not exist.
On the other side, you have people that the coin flip does exist, albeit in a different way. The previous description of the process comes from the perspective of the observer, but things change if you consider the perspective of the participant (i.e. Simon himself). Our own perception of a continuous existence comes from our memories of our immediate past; we are never truly living in the present. To Simon, this means that both the original and the copy would experience the moments leading up to the scan the same but the moments after very differently. To the "original", the scan would complete and he would simply still be in the chair, as expected. To the "copy", the scan would complete and he would suddenly and instantaneously find himself in a completely different place, a transition that he might not even fully recognize until enough time passes for him to digest it. In this circumstance, each Simon would experience what amounts to a lottery, that they either won or lost depending on whether the Simon in question wanted to be the original or the copy afterward.
Now comes the part where I must give my own opinion. While there is some philosophical merit to consider the implications of the latter argument, I must confess that I am in the former camp. At the end of the day, saying there is a coin flip implies that there is a chance that the Simon going into the scan has an equal chance of becoming either the Simon still in the chair or the Simon that was transferred to another body. This is simply untrue - the original will only ever be the original solely because there is nothing involved in the scan process that would result in anything else.
The metaphorical coin flip that the Simons experience following the scan is a real sensation, but it is erroneous to actually call it a literal coin flip. The only reason that people do is that of the thought that Simon would invariably come to, that, using the example at Phi, he "won" in the case of the copy on the ARK or that he "lost" in the case of the original that got stranded on Earth. This thought, and the emotions that come with it, are the result of the illusion of continuity. The copy thinks he won the coin toss because he was transferred from Phi onto the ARK, but that is only because of the memories which were carried over along with the rest of his brain scan. In reality, that Simon did not exist in the instant prior to his activation, so the transfer which he experienced was nothing but a convenient falsehood.
Continuity is a really fickle thing to argue for or against in philosophical discussions. The point is always brought up that one can never truly prove that they didn't just spontaneously pop into existence five minutes ago, as any evidence can be refuted as being a product of the memories that were implanted into our minds at the moment of creation. The closest thing we have to proof, then, is that we can use logic to example the circumstance of our existence, and conclude that, since there is no evidence that we
didn't exist prior to five minutes ago either, it is safe to assume that we did. However, this is not the case for the copies of Simon. Examining the circumstances surrounding the scan and copy processes, it is not only feasible to assume that he really did pop into existence with a collection of memories, for that it is most definitely what happened. As such, Simon-2, 3, and 4 are some of the only humans alive (in a matter of speaking) to which the concepts of Last Tuesdayism are far more than just a mere thought experiment - it is a core principle that defines their entire existence.
TL;DR The literal coin flip doesn't exist, and though the figurative coin flip might exist in a way, calling it a "coin flip" is misleading and should probably be called something else to reduce confusion and arguments over semantics.
Also yes, this forum is quite dead.
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The Coin Flip: A Different Perspective
