[extropy-chat] I keep asking myself...

[A B]

Hello,
   
  Perhaps I just don't fully understand this topic, so anyone feel free to correct me. I have no problems with the production (creation I guess, in the non-religious sense) of new life, regardless of the means employed to do so (eg. natural conception, cloning, from-scratch, or whatever the technology). But so far, no one here seems to be addressing the basic rights of these "copies". As a living, conscious being, I'm not sure it is ethically correct to force specific decisions and lifestyles on these "copies" as if they were simply toys - devoid of basic rights that an "original" version would presumably have. To me it seems there is little difference between the value of an "original" and a "copied" being; once it is created, it has every right to do with itself whatever *it* wishes (short of harming any other being).
   
  Best Wishes,
   
  Jeffrey Herrlich 

ben <benboc at lineone.net> wrote:
  Anne-Marie Taylor wrote:

> Why would anybody want a copy of themselves? (In any form) I've been
> hearing a lot about copying this, that or whatever and I couldn't
> help asking myself what would I do if I could copy myself and why
> would I want to copy myself. I would really like other peoples
> opinion on this. Thanks Anna

This is a very good question.

I'm writing this before reading the many other replies, so i'm very
probably just repeating some things that others have already said, but
here are some reasons that occur off the top of my head:

To (attempt to) ensure that your mind-pattern survives. The copies could
be 'snapshots' of your mind, not active, that are basically backups, to
be instantiated if you ever die. Limited consolation to the you that
dies, of course, but better than what we have at the moment.

To lighten your work-load. Imagine having a twin that thinks exactly
like you. They would do any job in exactly the same way that you would.
So you could confidently share your workload between the two of you, and
get more done in the same time. Now multiply that as many times as you
have resources to make copies.

For fun. I'm sure you can think of several interpretations of that.

To multiply your mind-power. This would presume not only the ability to
make copies of your mind, but to link them all together, resulting in a
kind of 'hive-mind' that was composed of many copies of you.

Making another assumption, that of the ability to not only make copies,
but to re-merge them at a later time, then you would be able to
effectively have many experiences at the same time. This also reduces
the risk inherent in certain activities. You could split into several
people, temporarily, while they go off and do all sorts of different
things, some of them could be quite risky things. The ones who are still
around later (that still want to) could re-merge into one you. You would
then have to integrate the experiences into a single mind. I don't know
(and neither does anyone else, yet) if this would be easy, difficult or
impossible. Or possible, but at the cost of effectively turning you into
someone else, perhaps more quickly than you'd be comfortable with (we're
all turning into someone else all the time, just at an acceptable rate,
so we recognise a continuity between the 'old us' and the 'new us').

To satisfy the urge to procreate in a post-biological state. Maybe. I
bet your 'kids' would still disappoint you, though!

There are other reasons, but those a few that i can think of without
much effort.

ben
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