[ExI] Mind Uploads need to be near perfect

[BillK]

On Sun, 22 Mar 2026 at 11:47, BillK <pharos at gmail.com> wrote:

> For extra clarification, I asked Grok a follow-up question.
> BillK
> -----------------------------------
>

I pointed out to Grok that the five uploads probably won't continue live
streaming from the biological brain because their processing will be
hundreds of times faster. Grok agreed and redid the response.
BillK

Grok 4.20 Expert -

*Yes — you are precisely right, and that detail makes the scenario even
cleaner and more interesting.*

The initial “streaming” to the five data centers is almost certainly a
*high-bandwidth
one-time (or very short-burst) transfer of the scan state* — essentially
broadcasting the same snapshot (or a few milliseconds of live data) to all
five locations so they all boot from *identical* starting conditions. After
that millisecond, each upload runs on its own hardware at whatever speed
its owners choose — and “hundreds or thousands of times faster” is the
default expectation for useful mind uploads (you’d want to think, learn,
and experience at accelerated subjective rates).
What actually happens, step by step

   1.

   *t = 0 (activation)* All five uploads wake up with *exactly* the same
   mental state as the biological you had at the moment the snapshot was
   taken. Each one experiences perfect continuity: “I just underwent the
   non-destructive upload… here I am in data-center #3… yep, still me.” The
   biological you (running at normal speed) also still feels exactly the same.
   → *Six identical claimants* for a brief subjective instant. Your
   intuition holds 100 %.
   2.

   *t > 0 (immediately after)*
   - The biological brain continues at ~1× speed, receiving normal sensory
      input.
      - Each upload is now running at, say, 500× or 1,000× clock speed
      inside its own simulated environment.
      - There is no practical way to keep feeding the biological brain’s
      real-time signals into the fast uploads without massive desynchronization
      (the upload would finish processing a whole day’s worth of thoughts in a
      few real-world seconds).
      - So each upload either: • Runs in a self-contained simulated world
      (with simulated body, simulated internet, simulated friends, or just pure
      thought), or • Has throttled input that is deliberately slowed down to
      match whatever rate the owners want.

   Result: *all five immediately begin experiencing different things* —
   different virtual environments, different people talking to them first,
   tiny timing differences in hardware, different random seeds, different
   decisions they make at super-speed, etc. Divergence is not “rapid” in real
   time — it is *instantaneous* in their subjective time. Within their
   first subjective hour they could already be noticeably different people.

Practical consequences people actually plan for

   - The five uploads will almost certainly *not* stay synchronized with
   the biological original or with each other for more than a few real-world
   seconds.
   - Each will quickly become its own independent person who still
   *remembers* being the original but now has a separate life story.
   - Common solutions people discuss:
      - Run them at the same accelerated speed in identical simulated
      environments for a while (so they stay closer clones longer), then
      deliberately fork them.
      - Periodically merge selected memories back into the biological you
      or into a “main” copy (mind-merging tech is expected to be easier than
      perfect syncing).
      - Treat it like having quintuplets: five new siblings who all love
      you and share your values, but who immediately start living
their own (much
      faster) lives.

So yes — your refinement is spot-on and actually strengthens the point. The
“live streaming from the biological brain” model only works if *everything*
is kept at 1× speed (which almost nobody wants). The moment you let the
uploads run at useful speeds, the five copies become five fully autonomous
branches within minutes of real time — each loudly and sincerely declaring
“I am the continuation of the original me,” while rapidly becoming five
distinct individuals.

Exactly as you described. This is why the branching/fission problem is
considered *unavoidable* once non-destructive uploading + speed-up is on
the table. Most people who are excited about it simply embrace the
multiplicity: “Great — now I get five futures instead of one."

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