Jun 8, 2015 05:57 AM
http://schwitzsplinters.blogspot.com/201...lemma.html
EXCERPT: Most of the philosophical literature on immortality and death [...] doesn't very thoroughly explore the consequences of temporal infinitude [...] It seems to me that true temporal infinitude forces a dilemma between two options:
(a.) infinite repetition of the same things, without memory, or
(b.) an ever-expanding range of experiences that eventually diverges so far from your present range of experiences that it becomes questionable whether you should regard that future being as "you" in any meaningful sense.
Call this choice The Immortal's Dilemma. Given infinite time, a closed system will eventually cycle back through its states [...] Assuming that memory belongs to the system's structure of states, then memory too is among those things that must start afresh and repeat. But it seems legitimate to wonder whether the forgetful repetition of the same experiences, infinitely again and again, is something worth aspiring toward...
[...] It might seem [...] more interesting [...] to have an open system [...] Suppose that conscious experience is what matters [...] you've either got to settle in for some repetition or find some new range of experiences that include experiences that are no longer human. [...] Either amnesic infinite repetition or a limitless range of unfathomable alien weirdness. Those appear to be the choices....
EXCERPT: Most of the philosophical literature on immortality and death [...] doesn't very thoroughly explore the consequences of temporal infinitude [...] It seems to me that true temporal infinitude forces a dilemma between two options:
(a.) infinite repetition of the same things, without memory, or
(b.) an ever-expanding range of experiences that eventually diverges so far from your present range of experiences that it becomes questionable whether you should regard that future being as "you" in any meaningful sense.
Call this choice The Immortal's Dilemma. Given infinite time, a closed system will eventually cycle back through its states [...] Assuming that memory belongs to the system's structure of states, then memory too is among those things that must start afresh and repeat. But it seems legitimate to wonder whether the forgetful repetition of the same experiences, infinitely again and again, is something worth aspiring toward...
[...] It might seem [...] more interesting [...] to have an open system [...] Suppose that conscious experience is what matters [...] you've either got to settle in for some repetition or find some new range of experiences that include experiences that are no longer human. [...] Either amnesic infinite repetition or a limitless range of unfathomable alien weirdness. Those appear to be the choices....
