Re: Siamese Brains and Uploading

Anders Sandberg (nv91-asa@nada.kth.se)
Thu, 30 Jan 1997 16:20:08 +0100 (MET)


On Thu, 30 Jan 1997, Mike Cowar. wrote:

> If I connected my brain to another brain by a neuron
> what would it feel like?

Probably it would be very confusing (or even epileptic). Most likely it
would feel like utter chaos, where no thought or action was possible due
to interference. The trouble is of course that there is no
neuron-to-neuron correspondence between human brains, they are very
different from each other, even in twins.

> Oh well, being uploaded is the goal of this topic so I'll talk about that.
> I want it to be an evolution.
> I want everything that is a part of me to become what will be me.
> I am afraid that most uploading process being explored
> would not be considered evolution.
> For instance if my body were destroyed during a scan,
> which would be used to design and construct a new body,
> I would at that time experience "death".
> That is not something I want to experience.

Have you read Moravec's _Mind Children_? He describes in vivid detail a
way to upload you destructively when conscious that does not lead to any
death experience.

By the way, what is so bad about experiencing death if you can be sure
about being uploaded/survive?

> Do you want your brain to become a cloud,
> rapidly dispersing beyond your control?
> I do not.

Who cares about the brain, it is the mind we don't want to disperse! You
seem to identify yourself with the actual matter of your body, not its
pattern; most cells are replaced in time, and atoms constantly enter and
leave you. Very little of ourselves is constant.

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Anders Sandberg Towards Ascension!
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