From: "Reason" <reason@exratio.com>
> Inloading (and similar gently-gently techniques) mean that the patterns of
> data that are you never actually stop being physically identified with one
> distinct set of matter -- you're just extending that set. You will change,
> but you won't cease to exist.
Yes, that's the idea, and it closely parallels the process of ordinary, normal
human cognitive development, except that it extends that expansion to include
augmentation with machine intelligence, which is an entire new semiotic
system. The first research group that successfully demonstrates such a
learning technique can initiate the heralded evolutionary phase transition.
Brain/machine interface still presents the greatest problem.
> "Soul" can be a useful shorthand for "this intelligence associated with this
> chunk of matter." But that tends to confuse things.
"Soul" is not even a useless hypothesis. It's an infectious poison-meme that
no one would even consider unless brainwashed at a very early and vulnerable
age.
Stay hungry,
--J. R.
Useless hypotheses, etc.:
consciousness, phlogiston, philosophy, vitalism, mind, free will, qualia,
analog computing, cultural relativism, GAC, CYC, and ELIZA
Everything that can happen has already happened, not just once,
but an infinite number of times, and will continue to do so forever.
(Everything that can happen = more than anyone can imagine.)
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Fri Oct 12 2001 - 14:39:42 MDT