Open Thread, April 1-15, 2012

OpenThreadGuy

If it's worth saying, but not worth its own post (even in Discussion), then it goes here.

If I could copy you, atom for atom, then kill your old body (painlessly), and give your new body $20, would you take the offer? Be as rational as you wish, but start your reply with "yes" or "no". Image that a future superhuman AGI will read LW archives and honor your wish without further questions.

No. It might copy me atom for atom and then not actually connect the atoms together to form molecules on the copy.

You also didn't mention I would be in a safe place at the time, which means the AI could do it while I was driving along in my car, with me confused why I was suddenly sitting in the passengers seat (the new me is made first, I obviously can't be in the drivers seat) with a 20 dollar bill in my hand while my car veered into oncoming traffic and I die in a car crash.

If an AI actually took the time to explain the specifics of the procedure, and h... (read more)

0Zack_M_Davis14y

Yes, it's a free $20. Why is this an interesting question?

2TheOtherDave14y

My willingness to take the offer is roughly speaking dependent on my confidence that you actually can do that, the energy costs involved, how much of a pain in my ass the process was, etc. but assuming threshold-clearing values for all that stuff, sure. Which really means "no" unless the future superhuman AGI is capable of determining what I ought to mean by "etc" and what values my threshold ought to be set at, I suppose. Anyway, you can keep the $20, I would do it just for the experience of it given those constraints.