Caledonian2 comments on Which Parts Are "Me"? - Less Wrong

30 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 22 October 2008 06:15PM

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Comment author: Caledonian2 22 October 2008 11:30:18PM 3 points [-]

My point on the original post though was that you might naively assume that people would be scared of self-modification. But then you see people using Prozac without a second thought. More commonly, alcohol and other mood-altering substances are used. So perhaps we aren't frightened of self-modification after all.

As far as we can determine, humans have always wanted to submerge their consciousness beneath various drugs and estatic practices. Thinking is unpleasant for most people, and they work hard at turning off their capacity for self-reflection.

Give them a genuine ability to reshape their minds that doesn't require massive amounts of thought on their part, and they won't look back.

I am highly skeptical of people who believe they could be wireheaded without the ultimate destruction of their minds. The closest equivalents we have today are extraordinarily addictive.