[ExI] Uploading and selfhood

[Kevin Freels]

Nice summary. SO clear and concise. I guess that's why I enhoy reading 
your books! lol


Damien Broderick wrote:
> At 10:34 AM 3/28/2008 -0700, Michael Miller wrote in reply to JKC:
>
>   
>> the self and thoughts are not reducible to the machinery which 
>> generates them, whatever that machinery may be. They are not 
>> 'reducible' at all, especially the self, as it is not an isolatable 
>> thing. Therefore, to think that it can be 'transferred' from one set 
>> of hardware to another is to posit some kind of supernatural or 
>> metaphysical entity as the self. ...unless we're positing some kind 
>> of non-physical essential self, how can uploading be any kind of 
>> 'transferrence' or 'sequel' other than a simulation?
>>     
>
> Well, an emulation. John Clark's view is indeed a magical 
> one--sympathetic magic, to be precise. This discussion has been going 
> on here for well over a decade, so it's not going to get anywhere. 
> But to me, the key issue remains this:
>
> If a 1-to-1 mapping is made of you,
>
> (a) will the mapping be convinced it's you?
>
> (Answer: of course, by definition), and
>
> (b) will you be convinced that the mapping over there is you, so that 
> you'd now be very relaxed about being obliterated, whichever one you are?
>
> (Answer: you have to make up your own mind/s about that. My personal 
> reaction: are you fucking *nuts*?)
>
> But John might well be correct that in a world where this tech is 
> routine, people who share my current reaction will swiftly die off, 
> overwhelmed by the growing numbers of those who *remember* being the 
> people they emulate and hence feel fine about it. (Just shoot that 
> terrified look-alike idiot and kick the corpse into the gutter? Maybe 
> not, there's no call to be harsh to your progenitor--but no reason to 
> be anxious over his death, either. Hey, the template's still in the uploader.)
>
> Damien Broderick 
>
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>   
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