I (in your sense of the word) have no way of knowing whether I’m a copy (in your sense of the word) or not. But I do >know that my experiences are real.
I see what you mean about not knowing whether you are a copy. I think this is almost part of the intuition I’m having—you in particular know that your experiences are real, and that you value them. So even if the copy doesn’t know it’s a copy, I feel that the original will still lose out. I don’t think people experience death, as you noted above, but not being alive sucks, and that’s what I think would happen to “original Chris”
By the way, thanks for having this conversation—it made me think about the consequences of my intuitions about this matter more than I have previously—even counting the time I spent as an undergrad writing a paper about the “copy machine dilemma” we’ve been toying with.
Thanks for the italics! Don’t know how I missed the huge show help button for so long.
I see what you mean about not knowing whether you are a copy. I think this is almost part of the intuition I’m having—you in particular know that your experiences are real, and that you value them. So even if the copy doesn’t know it’s a copy, I feel that the original will still lose out. I don’t think people experience death, as you noted above, but not being alive sucks, and that’s what I think would happen to “original Chris”
By the way, thanks for having this conversation—it made me think about the consequences of my intuitions about this matter more than I have previously—even counting the time I spent as an undergrad writing a paper about the “copy machine dilemma” we’ve been toying with.
Thanks for the italics! Don’t know how I missed the huge show help button for so long.