Would a clone of myself be a different person than myself?

Forums: Philosophy, Cool, Identity, Metaphysics, Self
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don't know if anyone will read this, but just a random thought I had:

Try to imagine the following: you wake up in a hospital bed, with no recollection of how you got there. You look over at the bed next to you and see a person who looks identical to you, down to your birthmarks and scars, staring back at you. You talk for a moment and realize that you both identify using the same name and seem to share childhood memories. The other person also has no recollection of how they got there.

Please someone explain to me, how you would argue either that you know you are the original or argue for why you can't possibly have that knowledge. While forming your argument, please also explain where "you" are and who "you" are.

You may want to consider issues such as what it means to Know what your identity is, what identity means, and whether it even makes sense to claim that your identity even survives.

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Type: Question • Score: 10 • Views: 6,244 • Replies: 27

A clone is just another way of having a baby. It would have a brain and mind of its own.

1 Reply

@edgarblythe,

Thank you for a most logical answer. Smile

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Identical twins are natural clones, but they are not the same person.

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The title of the thread is wrong. A clone is something different than what is described (which goes beyond genetics to memories and scars).

The only issue in the OP is who gets to keep the life (family, job, apartment etc). Since the other dude will have the same keys to the same apartment, the same picture ID, etc ... So the best thing is to steal his keys and wallet and get out of there.

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@Olivier5,

Memories and scars--I like that. What about the principle: There are no identities in nature? You can have profound similaries which are, nevertheless, not identities, if only because of memories and scars and the inevitable fact that they occupy different locations in space.

1 Reply

@JLNobody,

Quote:

Memories and scars--I like that.

Aren't memories a form of scar anyway?

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@Olivier5,

Yes, in the sense that they are acquired characteristics, acquired from experience rather than genetically.

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I was referring to cloning, not the scenario the poster wrote.

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@Olivier5,

Olivier5 wrote:

So the best thing is to steal his keys and wallet and get out of there.

I would kill him before he got the idea to kill me.

1 Reply

@contrex,

Yes, that too. Just make sure he can't be identified, otherwise you'd be considered dead...

1 Reply

@Olivier5,

Quote:

Just make sure he can't be identified, otherwise you'd be considered dead...

I would never kill my clone. I would keep him around so that I could always have an alibi when I was out committing crimes, ya know?

If that didn't work, I would just say he did it.

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@layman,

Or if your life sucks, you can get away from it without guilty feelings about leaving your family behind. Just make sure the other guy doesn't run away as well.

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@layman,

BTW, a real clone would have different fingerprints than the model, like true twins have different fingerprints. Not everything in our body is determined genetically.

1 Reply

@Olivier5,

Quote:

BTW, a real clone would have different fingerprints than the model,

Interesting, I didn't know that. Best wear gloves and make them do a DNA test, eh?

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I thought somebody would have suggested keeping him around for spare parts by now.

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@layman,

layman wrote:

Quote:
BTW, a real clone would have different fingerprints than the model,

Interesting, I didn't know that.

You're joking, right?

1 Reply

@chai2,

Quote:

You're joking, right?

No, not joking. Unlike some I have encountered here, I don't know everything. I guess that is kinda strange, and could be seen as a joke (laughing matter), though.

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@layman,

Welcome. I like the thought that our bodies are unique not just genetically, but in other ways too.

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@layman,

layman wrote:

Quote:
You're joking, right?

No, not joking. Unlike some I have encountered here, I don't know everything. I guess that is kinda strange, and could be seen as a joke (laughing matter), though.

So you think if you don't know something, the alternative is being someone who thinks they know "everything"? That's stange.

In any event, if one person was a clone of another, that doesn't mean that their fingerprints will be identical, or that they will have the same number of hair follicles, be the same height and weight etc.

Just like animals who have been cloned don't look exactly the same.

These 5 colts are clones of each other...

http://vetmed.tamu.edu/images/site/labs/eel/5-cloned-foals.jpg

As I said before, identical twins are natural clones of each other, and no one thinks that they are the same person.

Clones are exact copies.

If you had a clone, I'm pretty sure they would object if you told them you were keeping them around for spare parts.

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Would a clone of myself be a different person than myself?

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