Exactly. The “me” of yesterday is already dead. He can’t think, feel, act, reason, or anything else. I have memories of being him, but if I’d suffered head trauma, even those could be gone. The illusion of continuous, conscious experience is just that—an illusion.
The young-Earth people say that their god created the world about 6,000 years ago, and planted fossils to test our faith. I say that my god created the universe 6 seconds ago, including these memories that we seem to have. There’s literally no way to prove otherwise.
And yet you have a vested interest in your continued survival. If you stepped into a transporter and it failed to disassemble you on departure, you would very much protest if a maintenance technician attempted manual disassembly
That’s not a philosophical objection, though, it’s just instinct. If the transporter made a copy of me, the copy would also very much object to this proposed method of error correction.
This is simultaneously the most depressing and most realistic take on the subject I’ve ever read. I’ve always considered time travel to the past to be impossible because the past already happened and is gone, there is nothing to go “back” to. Time is an arrow that only points to the future and is forever in motion, never leaving a trail behind.
With that said, I can still enjoy time-travel fiction for what it is, a fantasy, and suspend my disbelief enough to enjoy it.
I mean, the brain mostly consists of the same matter, aside from cycling synovial fluid, once you reach middle age. Recreate me a body but keep my original brain and I won’t mind it, aside from all the horror.
The cells in your brain are not replaced like other cells in your body, but the atoms are. In fact, all of the atoms in your body are swapped out every seven years or so.
all of the atoms in your body are swapped out every seven years or so.
I’m not sure exactly what’s true, but what you’re saying seems like a factoid that gets repeated a lot but isn’t really 100% true.
Structural stuff like the calcium in your bones… it would be interesting if it was really replaced on a schedule like that. It wouldn’t shock me if it was getting replaced, but it would certainly be cool to learn how that would work.
Is the lens in your eye getting replaced like that? I’m trying to think of body parts that seem to not get constant automatic maintenance. How about the enamel on your teeth? Really replaced every 7 years?
Or if we’re really just talking about atoms in your body, then famously the problem with heavy metal poisoning is that your body can’t get rid of it. So, is it being replaced or is your body getting rid of it? Or… is it just there from before?
And if you want to get really pedantic, and I always do, what fun… Things like artificial hips or breast implants are definitely in people’s bodies longer than 7 years but are not getting their atoms replaced.
My understanding of this factoid is that it has more to do with atoms tendency to swap particles when they bump into each other. So it’s sort of through attrition all of the atomic particles in your body are swapped out over the course of about seven years. So like as oxygen and carbon dioxide, for instance, move in and out of your brain and other tissues they leave electrons and shit behind and take some with them. But it also wouldn’t be the first time I had misunderstood something.
Sleeping is just teleporting 8 hours into the future and life is just continuous reconstitution anyways.
Exactly. The “me” of yesterday is already dead. He can’t think, feel, act, reason, or anything else. I have memories of being him, but if I’d suffered head trauma, even those could be gone. The illusion of continuous, conscious experience is just that—an illusion.
The young-Earth people say that their god created the world about 6,000 years ago, and planted fossils to test our faith. I say that my god created the universe 6 seconds ago, including these memories that we seem to have. There’s literally no way to prove otherwise.
And yet you have a vested interest in your continued survival. If you stepped into a transporter and it failed to disassemble you on departure, you would very much protest if a maintenance technician attempted manual disassembly
Not being in prolonged excruciating pain is very much part of the appeal of the transporter.
Lol, love the “manual disassembly” terminology.
That’s not a philosophical objection, though, it’s just instinct. If the transporter made a copy of me, the copy would also very much object to this proposed method of error correction.
This is simultaneously the most depressing and most realistic take on the subject I’ve ever read. I’ve always considered time travel to the past to be impossible because the past already happened and is gone, there is nothing to go “back” to. Time is an arrow that only points to the future and is forever in motion, never leaving a trail behind.
With that said, I can still enjoy time-travel fiction for what it is, a fantasy, and suspend my disbelief enough to enjoy it.
“Life is a message scribbled in the dark.”
I mean, the brain mostly consists of the same matter, aside from cycling synovial fluid, once you reach middle age. Recreate me a body but keep my original brain and I won’t mind it, aside from all the horror.
The cells in your brain are not replaced like other cells in your body, but the atoms are. In fact, all of the atoms in your body are swapped out every seven years or so.
I’m not sure exactly what’s true, but what you’re saying seems like a factoid that gets repeated a lot but isn’t really 100% true.
Structural stuff like the calcium in your bones… it would be interesting if it was really replaced on a schedule like that. It wouldn’t shock me if it was getting replaced, but it would certainly be cool to learn how that would work.
Is the lens in your eye getting replaced like that? I’m trying to think of body parts that seem to not get constant automatic maintenance. How about the enamel on your teeth? Really replaced every 7 years?
Or if we’re really just talking about atoms in your body, then famously the problem with heavy metal poisoning is that your body can’t get rid of it. So, is it being replaced or is your body getting rid of it? Or… is it just there from before?
And if you want to get really pedantic, and I always do, what fun… Things like artificial hips or breast implants are definitely in people’s bodies longer than 7 years but are not getting their atoms replaced.
My understanding of this factoid is that it has more to do with atoms tendency to swap particles when they bump into each other. So it’s sort of through attrition all of the atomic particles in your body are swapped out over the course of about seven years. So like as oxygen and carbon dioxide, for instance, move in and out of your brain and other tissues they leave electrons and shit behind and take some with them. But it also wouldn’t be the first time I had misunderstood something.
8 hours is for noobs. I can easily do 9-10