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Mind Uploading and Mind Children


Brainwaves
Published: July 1, 2009 | View more articles in: * Virtual Reality

There are two major questions surrounding the concept of mind uploading. There is the question of feasibility: Can we build a model of a brain complete enough to allow a conscious mind to emerge? The other question is concerned with identity. Some people argue that, if a copy of a conscious mind is identical by all measures (ignoring the fact that one is biological and the other is neuromorphic software/hardware) it should be thought of as a continuation of the mind that was mapped and uploaded. Others argue that a copy cannot be considered the same as the original, so the newly awakened consciousness must be another person.

Various attempts have been made to imagine the benefits of mind uploading. Assuming continuation of the mind, these benefits include indefinite lifespans and upgrading the mind. When your current brain no longer works well enough or not at all, you transfer your conscious mind to another (perhaps better) artificial brain. None of these benefits are tempting to those who see uploads as different people. In The Spike, Damien Broderick declared “copies are not you” and asked, “Would you be prepared to die (sacrifice your current embodiment) in order that an exact copy of yourself be reconstructed elsewhere, or on a different substrate?” He goes on to argue that this is not a procedure he would be willing to undertake. Let’s assume Broderick is right and a copy is indeed “not you.” Does it then follow that mind uploading offers no benefits?http://www.hplusmagazine.com/articles/virtual-reality/mind-uploading-and-mind-children

Gunter prepares to welcome the leader of the “Herd People,”  a holo porn king who plans to come as a god–a cigar-smoking llama.

 

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I'm a writer. My name is Marjorie and name on my blogs is marjorie kaye. For my novels, I'm M. K. Noble. I live in California. I have worked as an actress, a casting director and a teacher. I have written two novels. The first is a horror novel, The Demon Rift. Besides the horror element, it spans a 120 years, ending in 2004 in an Ohio shopping mall. The mall culture echoes our recent past, the town square that has since become Facebook, etc. Babylon Dreams, a science fiction novel, set entirely in VR concerns life after death programs. Currently, I'm writing the sequel, Shemathra's Realm, a VR version of Animal Farm. Also, my short story, The Seventh Folding of Willow Sprite is available on StrangeFictionszine.com. I would love it if you read my work and will gladly answer any questions. Thanks for stopping by.

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