X-Message-Number: 27579
From: "Jordan Sparks" <>
Subject: RE: uploading
Date: Sat, 4 Feb 2006 22:37:13 -0800

I thought you might object to the idea of incremental improvements to a
computer chip.  Of course, that's only because computer chips are so simple
and stupid that a single broken connection causes the whole thing to fail.
So it's a bad analogy.  Your sort algorithm analogy is similarly flawed.
I'll just skip the analogies and get straight to the point.  My neurons are
dying at a rapid clip.  I can almost hear them popping.  Of course, even as
each one dies, I retain my identity.  The first thing I would try to do
would be to stop that process, because I'm very aware that it's slowly
making me more stupid.  So let's assume I have the technology to stop them
all from dying.  Now, the next step would be for me to start replacing the
neurons I've lost over the last few decades.  Again, this is gradual and I
don't think it would cause you to object.
 
After that... Well, I hope I can keep adding neurons.  I don't see any
reason why not.  I'm still me.  But relax a little.  It's so far in the
future that by the time we get there it will pretty much be a non-issue.  I
think in 150 years when we are both deciding what sorts of enhancements to
go with, that we would choose exactly the same ones.  Since I will be
maintaining consciousness 24/7, I will also not opt for any enhancements
that cause me to lose consciousness.  What a ghastly thought that I might
actually have to go to sleep for a few hours and might not wake up the same
person.  All I'm saying is that all of this progress will be slow enough
that these issues will be obvious to everyone.
 
My program is a physical thing if you look deeply enough.  It is the pattern
of magnatism on my hard drive.  Uh oh.  Did I use that forbidden word?  When
I talk of patterns, I'm talking about patterns in actual matter.  The matter
on my hard drive is highly organized, and that has meaning.  That's fine for
computer programs, but you are objecting to that concept for human minds.
For that, I'm not going to argue.  I do not consider myself a patternist or
a materialist.  Those are fairly meaningless words to me.   All I know is
that I would really rather keep my very own neurons, thank you very much.
But to even debate the topic is just silly.  We are just lowly monkeys.  We
are not equipped to deal with these issues yet.  I'm not going to make any
statement against patternism, a concept I don't even ascribe to.
 
 
Jordan Sparks


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