[ExI] Bodies

[Stathis Papaioannou]

On 17 March 2010 18:54, Lee Corbin <lcorbin at rawbw.com> wrote:
> Some of the content of this thread surprises me. It now
> looks as though those of us who see value in being uploaded
> are doing so for rather different reasons.
>
> Perhaps everyone subconsciously supposed that his or her
> motivations were similar, if not identical, to everyone
> else's. Well, they're not. I've seen expressed here recently
> the idea that being uploaded is something akin to spending
> all your time in Second Life.
>
> SURELY I speak for at least some, here, who see the benefits
> of achieving uploading wholly in these other terms:
>
> * increased security
> * increased longevity
> * brain tampering
>
> Is the point not appreciated by all and sundry that one
> might be able to *choose* one's interests? As soon as
> enough progress is made, why would someone play games?
> Any games?
>
> Right now, we're trapped by our ancient hardware into
> being rewarded by some kinds of silly things: Some
> people here get excited by watching how a chess
> combination unfolds, or how atomic nuclei are structured,
> or who wins a particular wrestling match. Beauty, recall,
> is indeed in the eye of the beholder, (even though of
> course it's objectively true that certain forms have
> statistical appeal to most or many normal humans).
>
> We also know that whatever pleasures one obtains from
> certain activities are mediated by brain chemicals. So
> as default, why not enjoy them directly? Whereas right
> now there are unfortunate side effects (perhaps even
> for caffeine), that can *hardly* be claimed to necessarily
> be the case for uploads, doubly so since chemistry
> probably won't be involved at all.
>
> The much harder questions have to do with what particular
> experiences to select, what particular things to learn
> about, and what particular goals you as a sentient will
> have, or want, were it possible for you, as default, to
> have intense feelings of joy, contentment, ecstasy,
> satisfaction, and excitement---without having to surrender
> one bit of ambition, striving, dedication, or suffer any
> major alteration to your value system.
>
> Are you finding yourself curious about enough things?
> Or curious enough? Curiosity itself is simple a certain
> kind of brain behavior. As for me, I'm not sufficiently
> curious about knitting or kayaking, though it would be
> neat to experience going off Niagara Falls in a kayak,
> now that I think of it. And there are lots of things
> that don't begin with the letter "k" which I intend
> to become curious about if I make it.
>
> Right now, it seems to me, people only try to imagine what
> activities will generate those all these great positive
> feelings in terms of what activities already generate those
> feelings. Based upon our inherited mammalian anthropoid
> brain architecture---and what we're accustomed to. Surely
> you'll agree that by a large margin, this undersells what
> will eventually be possible.

The problem is people imagine themselves just as they are now, only
uploaded. This is like a caveman looking at 21st century life and
considering such things as how he will make spears to hunt, what prey
he will find, where he will make the fire, and other things that
cavemen think are important - because what more to life could there
be?


-- 
Stathis Papaioannou