[ExI] Digital Consciousness .

Kelly Anderson kellycoinguy at gmail.com
Thu Apr 25 16:22:48 UTC 2013


On Wed, Apr 24, 2013 at 11:36 PM, Alan Grimes <ALONZOTG at verizon.net> wrote:

> Brent Allsop wrote:
>
>> and that we'll do the same for ourselves, essentially moving to a new,
>> trillions of times more capable system  i.e. uploading right?  So,
>> everyone, please stop talking past each other like this.
>>
>
> What does uploading have to do with moving to a much more capable system?
>
> ##### The upload of an idiot is an uploaded idiot. #####
>
> So therefore uploading is not at all instrumental towards (cannot be used
> for)moving to a more capable system.


Sorry to disagree Alan, but I think that this is not entirely correct.
There are three aspects of intelligence that can be potentially assisted by
uploading.

First, they could upload and then expand the neural cortex, allowing for
learning to increase beyond the limited capacity that can fit inside a
human head. (There are some indications that a larger head doesn't buy you
anything in the physical world because of the execution speed of actual
neurons, but uploaded simulated neurons would likely not have this same
limitation.)

Second, the speed of processing could conceivably be increased as well,
making a faster idiot. However, an idiot with more time to think about what
he's going to do might be slightly less idiotic, especially if he thought
about what he was saying more deeply before saying it.

Third, being uploaded, he would have somewhat easier access to the world of
information.

In addition, some people are idiotic due to health problems (pain) or brain
disorders. The pain issue could be dealt with in an upload much more
easily. The brain disorder part is more difficult, but probably less
difficult than in a wet brain. You can experiment much more easily with
what happens with different levels of neural chemicals in various parts of
the brain when those levels are already simulated, for example.

So, an uploaded idiot would quite probably evolve over time into something
not quite so idiotic.

-Kelly
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