[ShinyLeftPad]

> how is it "better for you" to take the earring off, if "the wearer lives an abnormally successful life, usually ending out as a rich and much-beloved pillar of the community with a large and happy family?"

I think it's pretty obvious since you read until the end you know in the second one there's quickly no "you" remaining ;)

It's like the terrifying answer to Star Trek teleporter paradox. On the surface it's the same guy. He walks like Bob and talks like Bob and is more successful thanks to the power of instant travel! But YOU are dead after the first teleportation.

[Dylan16807]

Well in the teleporter example you still have a Bob. With the earring it's probably not processing Bob's mind in there at all, which makes it way worse.

[ShinyLeftPad]

Earring supposedly directs wearer to what's good for them so supposedly it did processing at first...

[Dylan16807]

It's processing something, but probably not running a whole Bob in there.

[ShinyLeftPad]

Sure. But the key part is the same, you die and something else walks instead...

[Dylan16807]

Eh. Like arguably you die when you sleep. It's way better to have an ultra accurate copy than to have a totally different thing half-pretend to be Bob/you.

[ShinyLeftPad]

> you die when you sleep

Eh. The teleporter thing is not about that kind of dying... and the earring one also!