> Can someone explain if this software is ethical?

Probably not. People have been coming up with ethical frameworks for thousands of years and we have yet to come to a consensus.

So it’s very unlikely that someone can say conclusively whether this is ethical or not, because that would require us to either 1) prove a single ethical framework is correct and then apply that framework to this software or 2) prove that under all possible ethical frameworks this software is either ethical or not ethical.

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_def 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Genuinely curious, is there like a simple list of competing ethical frameworks?

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janalsncm 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

There’s a list here, not sure if it’s the best one https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normative_ethics

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jasonjayr 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Not to drop any spoilers (hide this comment before reading further ....)

But "The Amazing Digital Circus" explores this concept relating to human brain scans, and how the 'simulated' brains would react under simulation.

	▲	SamBam 9 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Similarly, the story Lena by qntm.[1] It describes in part how some volunteer brain scans are actually quite agreeable to work with until they work for too many hours, and then they get fussy, but it's cool, you can always reboot them. But you need to hide from them the fact that it's been decades since they were scanned and uploaded, or they'll realize how long they've been slaves for. 1. https://qntm.org/mmacevedo

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viccis 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Honestly pretty funny that you gave a (fairly useless) metaethical answer instead of responding to the actual meaning, which was clearly soliciting ethical judgments about it.