Re: Uploading, AI, and Philosophy

Kathryn Aegis (aegis@igc.apc.org)
Sat, 21 Dec 1996 03:24:51 +0000

>Taken at face value, the dualistic beliefs held by Catholics usually present
>a barrier to acceptance of the functionalist view that underlies the
>possibility of synthetic neurons and uploading. However, given most humans
>delight in holding incompatible ideas so long as they seem to resemble one
>another in some way, functionalism can (given a proper explanation) sneak in
>and exchange places with substance dualism.

I wonder if you actually accomplished that substitution or whether they
extrapolated the dualism into the uploading concept, "soul" and "spirit"
occupying such central positions in Catholic theology. You may, however,
have planted the seeds for more "reformed Catholics" in future.

Sin,

Kathryn Aegis

[caution: not for use with mono devices]