Transhumanism

Freebase Dali · 10-09-2010, 02:37 PM

I've thought about the whole "uploading your consciousness into a computer" thing a lot, but I couldn't seem to wrap my head around how it could be possible.
I mean, let's say that there's a computer capable of mimicking the human brain 100 percent, and there's a method of duplicating someone's brain exactly, onto this computer. The person would still "be" the one in the brain, and there would simply be a computer with the exact same thought process, memories, etc... but the actual consciousness of being you and experiencing things yourself wouldn't change.
Since our identity, consciousness, sense of self, is all a essentially product of how our brain is wired, there isn't a way to "transplant" that without taking the entire brain itself.

But going back to the computer thing... if a person's neural pathways were mapped and replicated on a computer and functioned, along with a programmed equivalent of emotion, would that system be self aware? I would think so, but I don't think you would experience yourself through it. I can't imagine how that would work.

As far as whether I would like a bionic body. Yes please.

10-09-2010, 02:37 PM	#2 (permalink)
Freebase Dali Partying on the inside Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 5,584	I've thought about the whole "uploading your consciousness into a computer" thing a lot, but I couldn't seem to wrap my head around how it could be possible. I mean, let's say that there's a computer capable of mimicking the human brain 100 percent, and there's a method of duplicating someone's brain exactly, onto this computer. The person would still "be" the one in the brain, and there would simply be a computer with the exact same thought process, memories, etc... but the actual consciousness of being you and experiencing things yourself wouldn't change. Since our identity, consciousness, sense of self, is all a essentially product of how our brain is wired, there isn't a way to "transplant" that without taking the entire brain itself. But going back to the computer thing... if a person's neural pathways were mapped and replicated on a computer and functioned, along with a programmed equivalent of emotion, would that system be self aware? I would think so, but I don't think you would experience yourself through it. I can't imagine how that would work. As far as whether I would like a bionic body. Yes please.