Human Consciousness: does teleportation preserve self (Humans)

by David Turell , Sunday, July 15, 2018, 15:29 (2321 days ago) @ dhw

DAVID: Teleportation involves digitalizing a person's body and reproducing it elsewhere. Is one's self the same is the question raised by this philosopher. I cannot edit this as all the thoughts must be presented from the author who believes self is an illusion:
https://aeon.co/ideas/if-i-teleport-from-mars-does-the-original-me-get-destroyed?utm_so...

DAVID’s comment: What is true is that the body I had at the beginning of my life and that which grew into full adulthood is not the body I inhabit now. Much of the bone structure is the same and much of the original neurons in my brain are the same or direct descendants. What is the same is my memory of my life and my current personality structure. I have an immaterial image of myself which is a lifelong image. I am not the same as the author's image of a long lasting poker club which is the same but with all new members.
I think my teleported twin would look like me but like the author I do not think I would think of me as me. I doubt if we can digitalize an immaterial soul. So I agree with him even if I start from a different premise, that a soul exists.

dhw: The author begins:
I don’t think there is such a thing as a soul, or some ghost that inhabits my machine. I’m just the result of the activity among my 100 billion neurons and their 100 trillion distinctive connections. And, what’s more, that activity is what it is, no matter what collection of neurons is doing it. If you went about replacing those neurons one by one, but kept all the connections and activity the same, I would still be me.

I don’t think he believes in a soul, but who cares? This is philosophical game playing. Ah well, for what it's worth, my view is that regardless of whether there is a soul or not, yes I am me, but no I am not exactly the same me as I was twenty, thirty, forty years ago, either physically or mentally. Experiences change us. So if I left one me on Mars, the me that returned to Earth would have different experiences from the me that was left on Mars (including the experience of being left on Mars and of returning to Earth). They’d both still be me, but neither me would always be the same me.

The key is I am me, a immaterial concept based on memory and construct called personality.