ttttttssszzzzzz ... you're breaking up ...
On Sun, 10 Sep 2000, ankara wrote:
> Scott writes in part:
> >....If I seek transcendance through intelligence enhancement, uploading,
> >or something >else, can't I expect to lose this illusion I call my
> >identity?
this thing you call identity is not exactly an illusion, it's just
not what you thought it was. i thought this discussion was about how to
_get_ what we want ... but now i suspect it is more about how to _know_
what we want.
> When I was asking why AI/SI would/could 'want to want' anything... Why and
> how should it gain Consciousness? Is being conscious a prerequisite of
> wanting? That's THE question!
>
to be conscious is to live a narrative ... a story. the essence of
a story is conflict. two options: be conscious and conflicted or be
unconscious ... is there a third choice?
> Uploading my memory bank into a machine: What would be the difference
> between leaning/reading/ thinking everything in one second or in one
> thousand years? Zip! Uploading would essentially mean the end of the
> illusion of time. Life without that illusion equals absolute eteranl
> insanity. Also, I'd really miss my body. Identity itself may be a dynamic
> illusion and therefore, time dependent - not to mention reality.
>
whether time is an illusion is a question of physics. insanity is
a characterization we make about others. we change, full stop.
> What enhancements are available to me now? To be here and not exist at the
> same time, to be conscious and not want anything, sort of a Zen state of
> observation, appeals to me but I keep getting in the way.
>
*out of drunk mode* i always wondered about this ... how does one
decide to _become_ a zen master? if actions are always the results of
goals, and the uninitiated pursues "worldly" goals, how does anyone _ever_
become a zen master, with "un-worldly" goals? isn't there a gap in there
somewhere? say i'm an average merchant ... why would i, with my worldly
set of goals ... want to become a zen master? do i see a zen master and
say to myself, gee, if i had that kind of self-control, i would be able to
make a whole lot more money?
> Cryogenics? I do question the finality of death. Not sure I believe in it.
> Now, if you can get me a brand new body........
>
-x
"had we but world enough and time,
this coyness, lady, were no crime ..."
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Oct 02 2000 - 17:37:37 MDT