What's so special about this mind state anyway?

The urge for self-preservation is very strong in most beings. If strong AI appears, it seems reasonable to expect at least some of them to have a sense of self-preservation. But what, in the end, is it that an AI is attached to? If you characterize it as a succession of states, then presumably the notion of "preserving myself" means "preserving this state's ability to interact with the environment, and so change it (and be changed in return)".  And yet "this state" is by definition in a flux, in a flow. A being's state, artificial or otherwise, lasts only an instant even when it is alive! So what is death?

Perhaps there is something within the state that is valuable, worth preserving? Some sort of jewel of a thing that shouldn't be wasted? Perhaps the image has a skill, the ability to solve a certain class of problems speedily or well. And it would be a shame for this skill to be lost, would it not? That's a good argument (essentially a utilitarian one) but let's put it aside for the moment.

Another possibility is that a mind state fundamentally desires new input - this might even be its defining characteristic. Death means no new input. New knowledge is particularly vital if you are going to promote your interests; if you are ignorant of the world, then you will have no voice (although others might take up your cause). Since our interests involve maximizing good input, and minimizing bad input, when there is no input there cannot be any more interest.

MacBook Pro Retina 15" screen coating is coming off; Apple refuses to fix

Summary: my very expensive mac laptop's screen coating started to come off in under a year, and Apple refuses to repair it under warranty.

EDIT: The fact is that this is a known problem and other people have got it covered under warranty. So why not me?

EDIT: This is very well-known problem at this point (3/18/2015) there is the "staingate.com" database, and a lively hacker news discussion about it. There is also a petition, and a facebook group. 

Early last year I bought a top-of-the-line MacBook Pro Retina 15”. It cost about $3500. (I am a professional programmer, and use ever last ounce of this capacity.)

A few months ago, I noticed that the screen coating was starting to come off around the edges. About a week ago, I noticed a spot of missing coating in the middle of the display. 

 Top Bezel Screen Coating Wear

The biggest spot is along the top bezel, which doesn't affect the display.

Center Screen Coating Spot

Notice the spot in the middle of the display. The light spots aren't oil or dirt, it's the screen coating came off.

When the screen is dark (as it is in my preferred Sublime Text mode) it is highly visible, and it’s annoying. “No problem,” I thought, “it’s under warranty and I’ll just bring it into the Apple Store, and they'll make it right." So I made an appointment and went in just this morning (2/5/15).

My appointment was for 11:30am. I got there at 11:25am. I was not seen until 12:10pm.

He asked me a few questions, and seemed particularly interested in whether or not I'd ever used alcohol to clean the display (I hadn't). He took my info, went in the back for about 5 minutes, and came back out and said, "Screen wear is not covered under the AppleCare warranty. You have two options: we can repair it 'in depot' for $288, or we can do it here for $600."

I couldn't believe it! Here it was, plain as day, defective screen coating was coming off within a year, and he was telling me it wasn't covered - with the strong implication that I was somehow to blame. 

This was not damage caused by me, but rather insufficiently strong screen coating that wears quickly, and it is wrong to ask me to pay $300 to fix it. Apple can and should fix it on their dime - and apologize for wasting my time. It's not like Apple is hurting and can't afford to do the right thing: Apple Computer has 40% profitability, $75B in cash reserves (more than the US Government) and here they are nickel-and-diming the people who are critical to their success. That seems like a bad idea to me.