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TheOtherDave comments on How to deal with non-realism? - Less Wrong
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Consider the following set of statements:
1) "I am my meat."
2) "I am the unique pattern of information-flow that occurs within my meat."
3) "I am the class of patterns of information-flow that can occur within meat, of which this unique pattern is one example."
4) "I am the class of patterns of information-flow that can occur within any substrate, of which this unique pattern is one example."
5) "I am all the matter and energy in the universe."
What sorts of experiences would constitute evidence for one of them over the others?
1 v 2 -- is your "meat" persistent over time? (It is not).
2 v 3 are non differentiable -- 2 is 3.
4 is implied by 2/3. It is affirmed by physics simulations that have atomic-level precision, and by research like the Blue Brain project.
5 is excluded by the absence of non-local phenomena ('psychic powers').
I agree that my meat does not persist over time.
The class of patterns of information-flow that can occur within meat includes the pattern of information-flow that occurs within your meat. 3 therefore asserts that I am you, in addition to being me. 2 does not assert this. They seem like different claims to me, insofar as any of these claims are different from the others.
I'm not really sure what non-local phenomena are, or what they have to do with psychic powers, or what they have to do with the proper referent for "I".
Missed that about the class. Makes a difference, definitely.
Two options: trust the assertions of those who are sure, or learn of them for yourself. :)