JenniferRM comments on Open Thread, August 2010 - Less Wrong

4 Post author: NancyLebovitz 01 August 2010 01:27PM

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Comment author: [deleted] 01 August 2010 09:10:49PM 6 points [-]

I wouldn't have problems copying myself as long as I could merge the copies afterwards. However, it might not be possible to have a merge operation for human level systems that both preserves information and preserves sanity. E.g. if one copy started studying philosophy and radically changed its world views from the original, how do you merge this copy back into the original without losing information?

Comment author: JenniferRM 02 August 2010 04:03:02AM 3 points [-]

David Brin's novel Kiln People has this "merging back" idea, with cheap copies, using clay for a lot of the material and running on a hydrogen based metabolism so they are very short lived (hours to weeks, depending on $$) and have to merge back relatively soon in order to keep continuity of consciousness through their long lived original. Lots of fascinating practical economic, ethical, social, military, and political details are explored while a noir detective story happens in the foreground.

I recommend it :-)