Thought Experiments on Continuity of Consciousness

In a recent essay, the author delves into the philosophical puzzle of continuity of consciousness, building on their earlier work on cryonics. They start with a prisoner's dilemma involving an exact clone, where cooperation is obvious—since both copies think identically, defecting would be irrational. This sets the stage for more radical experiments: what if a perfect copy of you is made, then the original dies after 5 minutes? The author's gut reaction is that this is 'not fine,' as they value being the original, but they admit uncertainty about why that matters.

Further experiments probe everyday scenarios—aging, sleep, and molecular turnover—where we intuitively accept continuity. Even simulated universes seem fine, as long as the experience feels identical. The author concludes they don't really care about continuity, yet they still value living through the process rather than jumping to an end state. This tension suggests our intuitions about identity are deeply inconsistent, and the essay invites readers to examine their own assumptions about what makes 'you' you.