If memory is retained, then consciousness is retained, therefore the self.
Even if beamed to a different physical carrier such as another body or
computer. The new carrier must have synthesizing capability to process
incoming information.
Nonotechnology may provide methodology. (sp)
On Mon, 20 Feb 1995, Patrick O'Neil wrote:
>>> On 21 Feb 1995, Perry E. Metzger wrote:
>> > >> There can't be any crash since the hardware is very special and has only
> > >> a "Virtual Machine"/Soft Circuit layer: no software, it's all
> > >> architecture, running a special data structure (me).
> >
> > >No, it would NOT be you. It would be a machine programed to simulate
> > >you. You would be dead and a poor "copy" of you would be used to animate
> > >a machine.
> >
> > Ah, I see the Neonazi Ecologist (remember that this gentleman has
> > proposed the genetic engineering of diseases to kill off most of us on
> > the planet) rears his ugly head again.
>> Ah, well I need not even address the personal nature of your attack
> here. It is very telling, however, to equate those who actually DO
> biological research and, therefore, care about all biological organisms
> as a result, to NAZIs at all.
>> > Well, Mr. O'Nazi, if you were transfered slowly enough -- say each of
> > your neurons was replaced with an electronic equivalent one by one --
> > the result would be at least as much "you" as your self six weeks from
> > now is the same "you" as "you" are today -- after all, braincells
> > die with time, constituent materials of the cells are replaced, etc.
>> Irrelevant. If I cloned you, even though the person that resulted would
> be genetically and biologically identical to you in practically every way
> (with allowances made for different environmental influences), it would
> NOT be you any more than identical twins are the same person. They are
> seperate individuals, period. The clone I made would be nothing more
> than your identical twin and an entirely seperate entity from you. There
> is no possibility of tranfering you into this organism. The same goes
> for transfer into devices such as computers. You transfer an imprint of
> information, translated down into digital format. Just as the best
> picture of the Grand Canyon is NOT the Grand Canyon, so too the replica
> of your mental data would not be you. Your consciousness terminates with
> your biological termination. Star Trek is NOT reality, herr Metzger.
>>>>
