conuly

This is why I say it comes down to a fundamental disagreement of values. You hold life as vitally important a value and believe that an error that destroys a life is one of the absolute worst kinds. I don't agree. I believe that happiness and a lack of torture is even more important than life, and a mistake that leads to a life of torture is worse than a mistake that leads to a lack of life.

That's not a disagreement where anyone can be right or wrong. It comes down to fundamental values - axioms. We hold different ones. I don't expect you to ever change yours.

I also obviously hold a different opinion about what makes me me. I think the fact that I breathe and excrete and otherwise have the very basic acts of life is totally irrelevant to who I am. If I could survive in a purely mental way with no physical body, I would still be just as much me. But if I were lobotomized to an extent where the only brain processes going on were those of basic life maintenance, I would consider myself to be dead, and only a body to remain. I view myself as far, far more than just a physical body. My body is just what I need to wear to exist. And if I'm gone, I don't care about the clothes.