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

[BillK]

On 4/19/06, Heartland wrote:
> It's going to be very hard for people to accept the fact that anytime their mind
> stops they die. It's counterintuitive and that's why people reject this view
> automatically. For years it was that same inability to overcome that instinct that
> prevented me from extrapolating the theory to its logical conclusion. But once
> you accept that a person dies when his mind process stops I guarantee you that
> you can find not a single paradox that could make this logic break down.
>

There is a new study just published:
<http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9019-watching-the-brain-switch-off-selfawareness.html>

Watching the brain 'switch off' self-awareness
19 April 2006

Self-awareness, regarded as a key element of being human, is switched
off when the brain needs to concentrate hard on a tricky task, found
the neurobiologists from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot,
Israel.

The team conducted a series of experiments to pinpoint the brain
activity associated with introspection and that linked to sensory
function. They found that the brain assumes a robotic functionality
when it has to concentrate all its efforts on a difficult, timed task
– only becoming "human" again when it has the luxury of time.
-------------------------

So your 'self' gets switched off while your brain is working hard on a
problem, then gets switched back on again when your brain has enough
spare processing cycles.

Looks to me as though if you copy the 'self' program, then you could
run many copies of your 'self' program.  And each one would be 'you'.

BillK