this post was submitted on 26 Mar 2024
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Not sure if its what you're talking about but I really like the Ship of Theseus thought experiment, if an object is the same object after having had all of its original components replaced. Always makes me think of if an exact clone of you is created (same thoughts, memories, etc...) should that be considered you?
Source
In essence, we are our own Ship of Theseus.
And I would venture that the answer to your question is yes, but no. The moment your exact clone experiences something you don’t, you two are no longer exactly the same. And I would wager that moment would happen very fast.
With that in mind, it really just comes down to if the original gets destroyed, for a lack of better words, before that moment even happens in order for it not to be considered just a copy.
Edit: this honestly kinda helped me understand the problem more I really appreciate it.
The moment of divergence is instantaneous between the clone and original. The only way it could not be instantaneous, is if both were just a brain connected to the exact same simulation, experiencing the exact same inputs. If they didn't respond the same, then they aren't an exact clone. Even then, the brains would be sustained with different blood, made up of trillions of slightly different atoms — although similar, not 100% identical due to quantum mechanics — with a slightly different fluid dynamics. Actually the only way they could be identical is if they weren't brains but identical code, running in an identical simulation, with the exact same boundaries, and no possibility of probability, chaos or divergence from that code... Oh no I've gone cross eyed.
The controversial thought experiment about Star Trek transporters.
Where an individual is dematerialized in one location, transmitted as a signal somewhere else and rematerialized somewhere else.
Were they killed when they were dematerialized, cloned and a newly born entity that is an exact clone rematerialized at the other end?
Are they just killing people and recreating copies everytime they transport people?
Explained in https://existentialcomics.com/comic/1
What's really gonna crumble your cookie is, "Does it matter?"
Even in the trek universe, some people refuse to take transporters. I'd pry be one of them. You have no idea if you're killing yourself every time, and its just clones out the other side.
Yes, it literally Prestiges you, as evidenced by the time it didn't kill Riker and there were two of him
If and when we figure out human cloning, it's sure going to bring up a near infinite number of legal issues. Is the clone a new person? Is their birthday yours or the day they were cloned? Are they the same age as you? Or is a clone a new born?
If they are a copy of you, are they beholden to any legal agreements you've made? Are they liable for crimes you commit?
These are the things I think about when stoned...
I read a good sci-fi book called "Six Wakes" by Mur Lafferty that touches on this topic, you might enjoy it.
In the distant future cloning has become commonplace, but is used as a continuation of a person's life. Ie a person is born, lives there life, and at the end they are cloned and their memories transferred over to the new body, and life goes on. Also, a person would make "backups" of their consciousness in case they were killed/died accidentally, and would be "reinstalled" in a clone.
Sounds great! I'll have to check that out!
Honestly though, that sounds like the only way to do cloning without completely redoing every single law in every single country, city, state, Providence, county, parish, etc. The implications of cloning fascinates me way more than the cloning itself
Ship of Theseus applies to every human, because all our cells get replaced over and over until we die. At a cellular level, you're wholly different from yourself 10 years ago. Are you still you?
One thought is that "You" is just an unbroken string of consciousness. Which means you cease to be every time you sleep, and the person that wakes up just has the memories of being you.
A different perspective,seen in buddhism and similar worldviews, is that the only “you” that exists is the consciousness experiencing reality at any given moment.
You’re not wholly different as some cells are still the same. Neurons don’t undergo the same rapid cycling as skin cells, for example.