Yep. Though my point is that it is easy to neglect to even consider this question when considering 3^^^3 beings. 3^^^3 is such a huge number it exceeds almost anything finite that we would routinely consider infinite.
I think with the identical system states, whenever you feel more or less inclined to count them twice really depends to the spatial separation between them vs their size, which is kind of silly. A computer duplicates everything by having a lot of electrons in every RAM cell and every wire, but the ‘duplicate’ is very nearby and we ignore the duplication; i never in my life have heard an argument that a computer system’s existence should be proportional to currents in the wires and charges in the RAM cells. edit: I wrote more about that in the edit to the post.
I think a lot of folks take this position automatically and don’t bother / feel the need to justify it, in general. When most people consider the possibility of Boltzmann brains (and nearby concepts in concept space) and examine their intuitions in light of that possibility, they find that they have an overwhelming intuition to care about duplicates. It also seems to be a requirement for not going crazy, if you take MWI or large universes seriously.
i never in my life have heard an argument that a computer system’s existence should be proportional to currents in the wires and charges in the RAM cells
The word ‘duplicate’ is a pretty bad choice. There’s no original and copy, and there is no process of duplication. It is simply identical instances. With regards to MWI, there is continuum of instances, and as far as we know you’re dealing with uncountable infinity. If one subscribes to MWI one has to stick to caring for one’s own world on basis of some morals that are not intuitively derivable (as are any other morals, but it is more acute with MWI).
I think it would be rather silly to count for more an AI that’s running on less efficient hardware which uses larger charges and currents; not only silly but with real world consequences (an AI subscribing to such notion could be unwilling to upgrade it’s hardware, or indeed strive to make even less efficient hardware for itself); yet the only difference between this AI, and an AI that has identical instances on ‘separate’ computers (that use smaller currents and charges, and thinner wires), is the spatial separation.
Yep. Though my point is that it is easy to neglect to even consider this question when considering 3^^^3 beings. 3^^^3 is such a huge number it exceeds almost anything finite that we would routinely consider infinite.
I think with the identical system states, whenever you feel more or less inclined to count them twice really depends to the spatial separation between them vs their size, which is kind of silly. A computer duplicates everything by having a lot of electrons in every RAM cell and every wire, but the ‘duplicate’ is very nearby and we ignore the duplication; i never in my life have heard an argument that a computer system’s existence should be proportional to currents in the wires and charges in the RAM cells. edit: I wrote more about that in the edit to the post.
I think a lot of folks take this position automatically and don’t bother / feel the need to justify it, in general. When most people consider the possibility of Boltzmann brains (and nearby concepts in concept space) and examine their intuitions in light of that possibility, they find that they have an overwhelming intuition to care about duplicates. It also seems to be a requirement for not going crazy, if you take MWI or large universes seriously.
Never too late.
The word ‘duplicate’ is a pretty bad choice. There’s no original and copy, and there is no process of duplication. It is simply identical instances. With regards to MWI, there is continuum of instances, and as far as we know you’re dealing with uncountable infinity. If one subscribes to MWI one has to stick to caring for one’s own world on basis of some morals that are not intuitively derivable (as are any other morals, but it is more acute with MWI).
I think it would be rather silly to count for more an AI that’s running on less efficient hardware which uses larger charges and currents; not only silly but with real world consequences (an AI subscribing to such notion could be unwilling to upgrade it’s hardware, or indeed strive to make even less efficient hardware for itself); yet the only difference between this AI, and an AI that has identical instances on ‘separate’ computers (that use smaller currents and charges, and thinner wires), is the spatial separation.