X-Message-Number: 16132
From: "Steven Lacher" <>
Subject: Uploading and duplicates
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 06:54:36 -0400

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Everyone....
I've been doing a fair amount of thinking about this issue - and I'd 
like to state my opinion about it.  However, please take as a disclaimer,
that this is only MY OPINION, and not a scientific argument of any sort.

And we all know what people say about opinions, right? :-)

Anyhow, I think that identity in a living human being is a combination

of both software and hardware.  That is, our minds, our consciousness, our 
intellect
is the "program" of ourselves which is "running" in our brain.  


If you damage someone's body or brain you can impair either the ability of the 
brain

to run the program, or the program's inability to interpret data from the sense 
organs and
storage facility of the brain.  There are many documented cases for example of 

people getting damage to a particular node of the brain and losing motor skills,
or short-term memory.


If we can agree that we're a combination of software and hardware, then the 
uploading 

issue becomes a sticky one.  I think if you were able to maintain your 
consciousness

and parallel process between your brain and some sort of external system - you'd
still

be you.  If you then could shunt your basic awareness between these two 
simultaneous 
systems - you'd still probably be you.  


But if a "backup" of your memories is loaded up in its entirety on a new system 
- I don't think

that is you.  The crucial link is the maintaining of personal awareness.  I 
think life and identity 

are intertwined in a shared "state".  Having said that, I do beleive that once 
one legally dies and

is cryopreserved and revived - that is STILL you.  You just had your body 
"rebooted".


I'm all for getting rebooted - but until the science is there where I can be 
conscious and aware and 

"runnning" on hardware that's not my body, without losing awareness I'm going to
remain highly
skeptical about the idea of uploading.

--Steven Lacher

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