I hold the philosophical position that if two things are indistinguishable, their difference is irrelevant.
"What if we live in a simulation?" -- irrelevant
"What if you couldn't tell the difference between taking to a computer and a real person?" -- irrelevant
But more precisely, it's begging the question to say "imagine something was indistinguishable, now how would you treat it differently???"
@nomi I understand this position, but as you point out, the ability to distinguish between different things depends on our ability to perceive differentiating traits. However, the ability to perceive also depends on our interprative framework, which is to some degree under our control. Take Zhuangzi's dream for instance. He has a dream of being a butterfly that was so real he questions whether he is indeed a man dreaming of being a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming of being a man. Ultimately how he experiences reality is a choice he makes in that moment. Even our memories are subject to reinterpretation constantly and there have been quite a few studies done on people who's memories of important events change with time, or from outside influence. So the question becomes, whether two things are indistinguishable solely due to our interpretive framework and is there more utility in changing the way we view the situation or leaving the two things as indistinguishable?
