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Thought experiment concerning the self

Suppose an evil and omnipotent demon informs you that he will perform a mind-swap between you and a stranger. Your memories, personality traits, cognitive capacities, etc. will be implanted into the stranger's body, and his into yours.

Now the demon gives you a choice. After the procedure, either your body or the stranger's will be subjected to unspeakable torture. It's up to you to decide which one receives the punishment -- your body implanted with the stranger's mental attributes, or the stranger's body implanted with yours?

Whose body do you choose to get tortured?

  • 14 votes
  • 12 votes
Lalo 5 June 27
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17 comments

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0

What I do is make a tax deductible contribution to Victims of Torture. They walk among us.

0

Case dependant! What happens after? Do we revert back to our own bodies? Or do I have the choice to remain in their unsullied body, to accept it as my new vessel? (As pointed out below) is the torture mental, physical or both?

Is it better to be paralyzed and sound of mind,
Or
Able bodied and have post traumatic stress disorder? This is assuming, the body I got switched with wasn't some frail old, disabled woman already on life support. Meaning if she dies during the torture, my mind dies with her..

And the above is only one possible out out come...

There are way too many variables. I guess I wouldn't be agnostic if I weren't to question these before making this decision.

Not to discredit your question, as it's an interesting thought. But I wouldn't consider it under "philosophy & meaning", perhaps pseudo philosophy at most.

4

Your question sort of assumes that personality and memory is seperate from the body. In order for a stranger to have the same mental attributes as me their brain would have to be completely reformatted. So if consciousness is derived from the specifics of your own brain you would be better served betting on the new bodt with your brain in it.

Yarrow Level 2 June 27, 2018

Good point.

But even if the demon created a facsimile of your brain in the other body, would that brain be you, feeling your pain? Suppose the demon simply created a duplicate brain in the other body while leaving yours in tact. You'd go on just as before because nothing would have changed for you. If the other body with your duplicate brain would be tortured, there's no reason to think you'd feel that pain.

0

I like though experiments.... I'll say torture my body implanted with the stanger "soul" (for lack of a better word) and leave my implanted self alone. I think I would feel being me at the stranger body, right?

0

I want to know about what body I'm being placed in. That could be a sticking point from the get go as the body I am put into could be filled with disease or be that of someone who is on a hit list or any number of nefarious choices. And then what exactly is my reward for doing this?

The point is to force you to think about what "I" means. Are you taking it for granted that your "I" consists of memories, personality traits, etc. disconnected from your body?

@Lalo umm I'm the wrong one to ask that question of. I'm Buddhist there is no I

0

This is a loaded question. The concept of the problem innately produces more than two solutions because of the selves involved and their propensities.

0

I would first want to have proof that he was as claimed.

0

First I want congratulate you because of this hard problem of thinking!!

I think I would decide that my body implanted with the stranger's mental attributes receives the punishment because I'm thinking there will be alive my mental attributes in body's stranger. And even my body will be hurt, there are my mental attributes safe and the stranger will be able to use everything I invested in my mind and to be a good influence for people.

2

Depends on what type of torture? Physical or mental? Would I have to watch Trump talking (lying) for ions or are my teeth being pulled? I kinda like my body and spent a lot of money on my teeth ?, but could not withstand mental torture. So I guess if it’s mental, my body and the other brain can handle it. If it’s physical the other persons body can have it. ???

1

I don't think I see a time scale involved. I would procrastinate until both me and the other person died of old age. I mean face it, all powerful critters can do whatever they choose.

That's cheating. Assume one of you will be tortured immediately after the swap.

@Lalo
Well, plan B is suicide. I don't want to be tortured and I don't want anybody else tortured. If he has a remedy for that then I'll take the heat. The guilt of consigning someone, anyone to eternal and unspeakable torture would make my life not worth living.

1

I got confused.

5

Hidden answer three: tell the demon to go suck a nut.

But in general I choose to put the torment into the body I am consciously inhabiting.

You and the stangers must be veiwed ethically as equal worth, if for no other reason than that they are an unknown quantity.

There for the goal should be to minimize suffering across the group.

We might as well assume the demon will deal out pain equally, the only remaining variable is that we have no reason to know if the stranger has any knowledge of the situation.

Pain and suffering cuase greater mental instability we the come from an unknown source, or for unknown reasons...

Ethically, the person who knows is obligated to accept the pain as their own.

1

You must not have cable! ☺

2

I don't believe in demons.

Totally missing the point, there.

1

It’s a good question. It makes you think about the enigma of personal identity. We often think that we are our bodies, but that might not be true at all.

We are very different people than we were at six years old, with a handful of memories being the only apparent connection. IMO, even though we are split off into different personalities, at heart our essence is pure consciousness, shared by all. As individuals we just play our assigned roles for awhile. Then the curtain closes.

1

A demon? Sounds like something god would do.

4

Neither.
I'd be taking a right proper swing at the s.o.b. though. You know, just for being a sadistic fucktard.

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