ialdabaoth comments on I notice that I am confused about Identity and Resurrection - Less Wrong

40 Post author: ialdabaoth 14 November 2013 08:38PM

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Comment author: ialdabaoth 14 November 2013 11:02:46PM 1 point [-]

On a practical level, it often seems to have something to do with people being more willing to work harder for the benefit of people they identify as 'themselves' than they would work for 'other people', such as being willing to do things that are unpleasant now so their 'future selves' will enjoy less unpleasantness.

Out of the various people in the future who might or might not fall under the category of 'yourself', for which of them would you be willing to avoid eating a marshmallow now, so that those people could enjoy /two/ marshmallows?

It seems like abstracting that a bit could lead to a memetic equivalent to kin selection. I am intrigued, and will meditate on this further.

Comment author: NancyLebovitz 15 November 2013 02:54:04PM 2 points [-]

I think I'd just eat an ordinary marshmallow now, but (for myself or someone else) make the effort to get two marshmallows if it was something like the artisanal marshmallow with a delicate maple sugar crust (carmellized maple syrup?) that I had recently.

And that's one of the ways you can tell whether it's me or not.

Comment author: niceguyanon 15 November 2013 07:56:51AM *  1 point [-]

What is the purpose to making any sort of distinction between the identity of one person, and the identity of another?

Here is what Parfit had to say:

My life seemed like a glass tunnel, through which I was moving faster every year, and at the end of which there was darkness... [However] When I changed my view, the walls of my glass tunnel disappeared. I now live in the open air. There is still a difference between my life and the lives of other people. But the difference is less. Other people are closer. I am less concerned about the rest of my own life, and more concerned about the lives of others.

This appeals to me, however like you mentioned, on a practical level there might be a desire make distinctions. Your example of forgoing a marshmallow now, so that those like you can have two, is a good example that.

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