X-Message-Number: 25583
Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2005 21:18:18 -0500
From: Francois <>
Subject: Duplication thought experiment

Lets send sophisticated nanobots in a human subject. The nanobots locate one
of his neurons and scan it down to atomic resolution. They transmit that
information to other nanobots in a lab who use it to make a near perfect,
living and functioning replica of the neuron. The original neuron is then
inhibited, not killed or damaged, just prevented from receiving or sending
signals. The signals traveling to it are intercepted and sent to the replica
in the lab. The signals the replica generates in response are sent back to
the subject's brain where they are distributed to the parts of the brain our
original neuron is connected to. If the switchover is done while both
neurons are in a quiet idle state, then as far as the brain is concerned,
nothing amiss would have happened.

The nanobots proceed to do the same thing with other neurons and keep going
until all neurons have been duplicated in the lab and inhibited in the
subject's brain. If the nanobots are self replicating, a few could be
introduced in the subject's body without his knowledge and then replicate as
needed. The operation could be "on the fly", without the subjet realizing
that something weird is happening to him.

Once this first stage of the procedure is complete, you have a subject with
a still intact and living, but completely inhibited nervous system, and a
living functioning nervous system in a vat who is the one actually and
remotely running the subject's body. At no point would the subject have
noticed anything amiss, and if this had been done without his knowledge, he
would not be aware that his mind now resides in another brain outside of his
current body.

The second stage involves building a replica of subject's body around the
replicated nervous system. Once this is done, communication between the
subject's and the replica's nervous systems is severed and the nanobots stop
all inhibiting actions in the original and the duplicate. The original
subject would probably collapse at that stage, victim of something
resembling a severe epileptic seisure, but his brain's activity would soon
restore itself to its normal state and the subject would quickly regain
counciousness. The duplicate's experience would be less brutal, but far more
puzzling. He would see himself suddenly transported from his office, or his
home, or from wherever he happend to be at the time, into a lab somewhere.

At no time would this admitedly complex operation destroy or even damage in
anyway the subject's qualia experiencer. At no time would the subject notice
anything wrong with his subjective perceptions, his thoughts, his sense of
self or his experience of qualia, except at the moment when the nanobots
turn themselves off and allow the brains to function independantly. The
subject in the street would be momentarely incapacitated and would then
regain counciousness, and the subject in the lab would see himself suddenly
transported there from the street. This thought experiment demonstrate to me
that real duplication of a person is possible in principle. If duplication
is possible in this convoluted fashion, then simpler, more realistic and
attainable methods must also result in true duplication.

Francois
The Devil fears those who learn more
than those who pray

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