As an aside; the use of "Org" (i.e. Rationality Org) seems really unusual and immediately makes me think of Scientology (Sea Org); am I unusual in having this reaction?

ooo I want to go!

I think someone read your article: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/print/2011/07/the-brain-on-trial/8520/

He comes at it from a slightly different angle - the criminal justice system - but approaches it the same way, dissolving the question down to blameworthiness and free will. He also reaches the same conclusion; our reaction as a society should be based on influencing future outcomes, not punishing past actions.

Hi LessWrongians, I've actually been reading this for a few months since I discovered it through HPMOR, but I just found this thread. I've been a traditional rationalist for a long time, but it's great to find that there is a community devoted to uncovering and eliminating all the human biases that aren't obvious when you're inside them.

I'm 27 with a BS in Business Information Systems and working as an analyst, though I consider this career a stopgap until I figure out something more entrepreneurial to do. I've been slowly reading through the sequences, but my brain can only handle so much at a time.

Mostly I just want to say thanks to everyone who writes/reads/comments on LessWrong. This site is awesome. It's the only place I've found on the internet that consistently makes me stop and think instead of just rolling my eyes.

Opening your eyes doesn't make a bad picture worse.

• http://onefte.com/2011/07/17/bully-for-you/

I usually use the word "intellectual" to refer to someone who talks about ideas, not necessarily in an intelligent way.

1. Is completely off topic. It's irrelevant bordering on nihilism. Sure the universe doesn't care because as far as we know the universe isn't sentient. so what? That has no bearing on desire for death or the death of others.

2. If knowing that number 2 is true (rationally or otherwise) were really enough, then no one would cry at funerals. "Oh, they're also alive we're just viewing them as dead" people would say. Just because I'm dreaming doesn't mean I don't want to have a good dream or have the good dream keep going. It also doesn't mean I don't care whether other people are having good dreams or bad ones.

3. As others mentioned this sounds specific to uploading. Luckily for your argument instant-copy uploading is not the only possible future. I find it more plausible that instead of full-blown uploading we will have cyborg-style enhancements which eventually replace our original biological selves entirely for exactly the reasons he objects to instant copying. There's the Ship of Theseus paradox to deal with here, but as long as the change is gradual and I feel I am still myself the entire time, there would be no protests.

4. Again there's no disagreement here. If we get meat replacements, they could be made one piece at a time with no protest. Our bodies already do this to a large extent during our lives. No one complains when the cut on their hand heals.

5. Many worlds are nice, except that they are not THIS world.

I'd also throw in Aubrey de Grey's oft used exercise that's along the lines of, do you want to live one more day? (A: yes) do you expect to want to live one more day tomorrow? (A: Yes) If that answer is always true, then you want to live forever. If not then at what point would you change your answer to the question?

I would think hardware. Polarization isn't something you can reconstruct from just color, but naturally-polarized lenses occur in nature and thus could have been produced by a mutation.