Bay 12 Games Forum

I think I've got a way to keep the Descanites happy.

So what we do is this: First, we /extend/ your brain. We build a copy of your brain, but instead of just booting it up, we HOOK you to the copy somehow, so you can the copy are sharing information.

So basically, it's all you, one consciousness, but you've got a redundant copy of all the data. I think you'd agree that this is still you, right?

Then, rather than replace bits, what we do is slowly cut your brain down the middle, so that when trying to access the opposite hemisphere, it's accessing the backup data instead. This is a gradual process. There's a shares consciousness, but it's getting steadily more out of joint. This mirrors a person that has had a partial bisection, in that they have one consciousness but half their brain has access to information the other part doesn't, but there's still continuity.

Then, like a cell splitting, we continue this process. At some point, well beyond severing the last link, it's far more realistic to think of this as two separate consciousness that share a bit of information, but there's no division where that occurs, no break in continuity.

Then, we sever the last link... and now there's two of! There's two of you, with no break in continuity, meaning both of them are you.

Then we simply repeat the process, except this time not bothering to hook the organic part up to anything, and now we've got two of you with a 100% mechanical brain.

I forget why we wanted two of the same person (or at least two people that WERE the same person at some point in the not-so-distant-past, and thus two people with a common ancestor who both have a 100% valid claim to being the same person as the pre-operation fellow), but the transfer to a mechanical consciousness has succeeded!

...Why do that though?

Assuming Descan and I are of the same mind (no pun intended ), we don't want a copy of ourselves. We want ourselves transferred to a more durable replacement than the flesh-brains our minds currently occupy. No copies. No mechanical duplicates while our fleshy selves run around.

You don't even have your original flesh-brain if you are over nine years old, after which all of the neurons you were born with will have died.

It might not be the original fleshbrain, but unless you jumped to an entirely new body at some point you're still the same "mind". You still have the memories and experiences of your pre-nine-year-old self. And thus you have never ceased to exist.

The continued consciousness held by the reiterated flesh brain. If that consciousness ceases to constantly reiterate, that is death. So, simply copying your consciousness at present and tossing yourself in the incinerator is in effect making a duplicate of you and then committing suicide; you did not become that other thing, that other thing became synonymous with you and then removed you. You still experience death, while your replacement goes on to be immortal in your stead, so you accomplished nothing. What others desire is a way to slowly replace components of the weak, mortal fleshy brain without losing consciousness, so that we are becoming immortal, but without ever the need to replace ourselves.

Another person who can state this better than I can

No. No. No. No.

Everyone has said no to that in multiple ways!

Quote from: Sirus on April 25, 2013, 05:31:40 pm

ShoesandHats got it exactly. A copy of me is not-me. I want me to live forever (or as long as I wish), not not-me.

-v(O_o)v-

And my point is that that copy of you is not current you, because current you necessarily exists in the present. You will not exist in the future, only memories of you and what you were thinking. The only thing that changes if you have your brain copied into a robot is that the memories of you live on in a massively durable machine instead of a fleshy thing that will die within a century (probably).
DO you really value your body that much?

Yes I'm bringing up an old thing; but it seems like the forum comes to life when I go to sleep.

Not sure what you're not getting about this. Okay, let me explain it as simply as I can:

I am the stream of consciousness (interrupted periodically by sleep) that has been the experience of my life. Even if another body containing a copy of me does the exact same things I do, it will experience the world slightly differently - from a different angle if nothing else. Thus, that other body will rapidly become something different from me. That other body may have my memories, but it is not the same mind as my own. If that other mind lives forever, it doesn't do anything for me. I want my own mind in a new, more durable body - NOT some copy.

Eheheheeh. I wish I could have seen that.

It was really quite boring. I can't stand trolls like that.

See you fine folks in about 8 hours. Try not to do too much amazing stuff whilst I slumber

Earlier this week, it would never drop below 80 degrees indoors, even at night.

Tonight it is 71 degrees. I don't know what voodoo magic someone used to lower the temperature to tolerable levels, but keep it up.

I'm just joking around, honest