Uploading

John K Clark (johnkc@well.com)
Fri, 4 Jul 1997 12:58:43 -0700 (PDT)


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On Thu, 3 Jul 1997 "Han Y. Huang" <hhuang@mit.edu> Wrote:

>transference is more daunting than either the problem of AI

Not so, it will be much easier.


>your transferred self will be an AI

An Upload is not an AI, it would certainly be intelligent but the way it is
organized would not be artificial, it will be copied from nature.

>we would need to understand the brain

Why? You can upload or download a program and have absolutely no idea how it
works, the program doesn't care, it still does what it does. I can see why
in general we'd need to understand how neurons work, and in the particular
brain to upload we'd need to know the strength of the 10^14 synapses that
connect the 10^11 neurons in it, but I don't see why we 'd need to understand
how the brain as a whole works to upload it.

>both of which are necessary *but not sufficient*

Not only is it sufficient it's far more than necessary.

>to effect transference, which much include a sense of continuity of
>self.

In other words it must have a good memory.

>Uploading has computer geeky, science-fictiony connotations.

I look on it as truth in advertising, Uploading is geeky and it does have
science fiction connotations, religious ones too.

>Transference connotes better with a "philosophy of transhumanism."
>What do other list members think?

I'm the wrong person to ask, I'm not very good at euphemisms.

On Thu, 3 Jul 1997 Brent Allsop <allsop@swttools.fc.hp.com> Wrote:

>If we understand how to properly control qualia and build and
>expand conscious awareness worlds in this way, like our brain does
>with the data collected by our current multiple senses, we should be
>able to produce the experience of "moving" between hosts in any of
>many possible ways. It could be made to feel like an "out of body"
>experience

We don't need to understand qualia to do that, we can do it today with
artificial reality. Your consciousness is where your senses are and to a
lesser degree where your hand is, the position of your brain doesn't matter
provided it's no so far away that you have signal delay problems.

John K Clark johnkc@well.com

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