So, for instance, if you've uploaded me in to a simulation, that's still me, but a backup saved-state of the simulation isn't me unless and until you start running it again.
A representation of me that exists somewhere in the digits of pi isn't me - but you could (theoretically) turn it in to me by transposing it in to some system capable of updating it in the light of various inputs. That could even be something that worked by finding a different offset in pi - but as ciphergoth points out, that's likely to be even harder, and will take more active hardware, than just doing the simulation on its own.
Of course, the time taken to update needn't be the current value - you could implement me a lot faster in a future computer, and you could implement me a lot slower in even clumsier hardware than I'm using now. But I'd notice and probably take a while to adjust. At extremes I'd find it very hard to cope.
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andrewducker) wrote2011-05-11 08:01 am
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So, for instance, if you've uploaded me in to a simulation, that's still me, but a backup saved-state of the simulation isn't me unless and until you start running it again.
A representation of me that exists somewhere in the digits of pi isn't me - but you could (theoretically) turn it in to me by transposing it in to some system capable of updating it in the light of various inputs. That could even be something that worked by finding a different offset in pi - but as
Of course, the time taken to update needn't be the current value - you could implement me a lot faster in a future computer, and you could implement me a lot slower in even clumsier hardware than I'm using now. But I'd notice and probably take a while to adjust. At extremes I'd find it very hard to cope.