LogFAQs > #924191444

PerfectChaosZ posted...

I dont think something has to be unique to have value, all sentient life has value

That's a different question that few people disagree on

PerfectChaosZ posted...

If anything it proves that the suicide cult was wrong- whether or not they kill themselves the copied version will be the same and go on to do the same things it would have done otherwise because its just as much them if they kill themselves or not

But this is the rub. If the one stuck in the ocean was just as much "them" as the copy, then the copy will always have to worry about competition from the original. Like, the original could come back and delete the copy, because they have just as much claim to the original identity as the copy. The copy will never truly be free to be "them" unless the original is gone..

Another way to look at it is this: Before the cloning, the entirety of "you" consisted of 1 body and mind. Then you get cloned, and "you" consists of 2 bodies and minds. Then one dies, so you're back to "you" consisting of 1 body and mind.

If you were completely whole as 1 body and mind, and also whole when you became 2 bodies and minds, then what tragedy is there to go back to 1 body and mind? You're just back to your regular complete self from before. Nothing was lost.

The only way it's a tragedy is if the cloning creates something new, a new identity that is different than your original self. Killing that is tragic, but it is also by definition not "you".
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_foolmo_
2 + 2 = 4