[ExI] Destructive uploading.

[Stefano Vaj]

On 12 September 2011 16:54, The Avantguardian
<avantguardian2020 at yahoo.com>wrote:

> I am sorry but simulated or not, I would not "feel" the same without my
> balls or my adrenal glands.
>

I am inclined to agree... :-)

In fact, let us say that we pick a physical human brain, connect its
synapses to some neuronic interface and put it into a tin-and-silicon robot,
or for that matter into an everyday workstation.

I suspect that it would not be too happy about this development, and
probably an emulation limited to that extent would neither, even if it
worked at all...


> > I think that Wolfram shows well enough that while the Principle of
> > Computational Equivalence shows us that all systems are basically
> > equivalent, the idea that "classical information" is easy to deal with
> > exclusively depends on a selection bias. Most of reality, biological
> > or not, is in fact quite intractable...
>
> Unless you meant to say "tractable", I tend to agree.
>

I mean that unless we concentrate on problems with easy algorithmic
solution, the general rule may well be that computing something may require
going through all the steps of the original system, and perhaps with a loss
of (relative) performance in comparison with the original, so that "life" or
"biological intelligence" would not be especial cases in this respect, in
comparison with, say, stellar internal workings.


>  > A Rose by Another Name. What an upload is and whether an upload is an
> > upload is represents ultimately a sociological, not a scientific or
> > philosophical issue.
>
> You are probably right but as an attorney, would you allow an upload to
> amend the Last Will and Testament of the deceased natural person?
>

This would depend on my client's best interest... :-)

But as a jurist, that is a hypothetical legal scholar/legislator/judge, I
think that more general solutions have to be found. And, yes, as long as
there are no other copies around I believe that a (fiction of?) "continuity"
is probably the best solution, as it is for similar scenarios affecting
legal entities. So that an uploaded individual should be considered neither
as the successor, nor a third party, vis-à-vis its original.

-- 
Stefano Vaj
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