technology to preserve all mind-states as they came into existence would likely be more difficult to engineer than such required to attain mere immortality.
I do not think that most people have a problem with the fact that they will, in five years from now, have values, habits, and particular ways of responding to situations which are different from those they have now. I wouldn’t want my personality to change drastically overnight, but I certainly wouldn’t want to magically make myself unable to change my habits and values in the future, in order to make future versions of myself value exactly the same things as me, either.
There are definitely ways in which our values, habits, and reactions to experiences could change which would be very bad—Alzheimer’s, and other age-related diseases obviously change people for the worse. Still, I accept and embrace the fact that I will have different habits and values in five years from now.
People’s values change all of the time. Changes in one’s religious beliefs can cause changes in values. Becoming a parent seems to change values, habits, and the exact way in which one tends to respond to situations quite strongly, yet many people report that they enjoy becoming parents. The fact that people’s personalities change over time isn’t always a bad thing.
In light of the above, I suggest that the OP be recast from talk of “preserving mind-states” to talk of “instantiating valued mind-processes” or something like that. Then see where that leaves you.
I do not think that most people have a problem with the fact that they will, in five years from now, have values, habits, and particular ways of responding to situations which are different from those they have now. I wouldn’t want my personality to change drastically overnight, but I certainly wouldn’t want to magically make myself unable to change my habits and values in the future, in order to make future versions of myself value exactly the same things as me, either.
There are definitely ways in which our values, habits, and reactions to experiences could change which would be very bad—Alzheimer’s, and other age-related diseases obviously change people for the worse. Still, I accept and embrace the fact that I will have different habits and values in five years from now.
People’s values change all of the time. Changes in one’s religious beliefs can cause changes in values. Becoming a parent seems to change values, habits, and the exact way in which one tends to respond to situations quite strongly, yet many people report that they enjoy becoming parents. The fact that people’s personalities change over time isn’t always a bad thing.
In light of the above, I suggest that the OP be recast from talk of “preserving mind-states” to talk of “instantiating valued mind-processes” or something like that. Then see where that leaves you.