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Richard_Hollerith2 comments on Disguised Queries - Less Wrong
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Is atheism a "religion"? Is transhumanism a "cult"?
My favorite example is, Is a fetus a person?
Quote: My favorite example is, Is a fetus a person?
I can answer this one: A foetus is not a person prior to 20 weeks gestation (18 weeks of pregnancy), but may be a person from that point onwards.
A body with one mind is one person. A body with two minds is two people (conjoint twins). A body with three minds would be three people. A heart transplant does not switch a person into a different body. A lung transplant does not switch a person into a different body. A brain transplant (and therefore a mind transplant) would switch a person into a different body. It is minds, not bodies, that defines people.
The mind exists, if at all, in the brain, or more specifically the cerebral cortex. The cerebral cortex begins to develop connections no earlier than 20 weeks gestation, therefore there is not a person before this time (though the body does have reflexes).
'Brain Waves' When??? <http://eileen.250x.com/Main/Einstein/Brain_Waves.htm> Margaret Sykes
That doesn't answer the question "Is a fœtus a person", it just supplies a definition of "person", which may or may not be relevant to any given query.
Suppose my real query is "Can a fœtus talk?" Now, just because I choose to define "person" in such a way that most "person"s can talk, and in such a way that a fœtus classes as a "person", that doesn't make the probability that a fœtus can talk any different to if I'd defined "person" differently.
The whole point of these examples of disguised queries is that if you find yourself trying to answer them, you're doing it wrong.
Suppose we call the horse's tail a leg.
Hi, welcome!