Human beings may be able to beam up to their orbiting spacecraft some day, but until it happens that piece of science fiction has to be taken as pure fiction. On the other hand I do think that sending spacecraft to visit neighboring star systems, like Proxima Centauri, and sending data back seems much more feasible and it is even likely to happen within a hundred (or two hundred) years. I cannot prove that the one is feasible and the other is not, but there is a flow to technology which suggests that there is something wrong with purely materialistic explanations of life - at least as far as the extrapolation of current technology can lead. Jim Bromer
On Thu, Sep 20, 2018 at 5:31 PM Bells Hakala via AGI <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hi Jim, > I have thought about this extensively over the years... I feel that uploading > our consciousness into a computer would likely make an interactive AI > replica, but I do not think it would still be connected to a "soul" (if you > will). for anyone who doesn't believe in souls, then it wouldn't matter to > them. Anyone who believes there is some sort of physical "energy" that would > be lacking with an electronic simulacrum, would probably feel that although > it would be nice to have, that it would not be 'the same' as being alive. > > That being said, what I would love to do is upload my consciousness into a > sim or android/robot/etc, and see how that develops in comparison to how the > "bio" version of me develops. I think that that would help us gather alot of > data on the topic. But it would seem to me, very likely, that the electronic > version of me would evolve/adapt faster than the bio-me because of the > transfer and processing of data. It wouldn't be a completely accurate > experiment until/unless the bio-me would be able to have that kind of > speed/access of data as well. > > But regardless, I think it would let us know how viable/accurate our uploads > are. And I suspect that if we can reach a technological state where we can do > non-lethal-uploading that it will suddenly be very common for people to want > to upload themselves, then ask the electronic-me to go research stuff that > bio-me wants... and then have those specific conversations. It would be > amazing to have electronic-me go do the learning that I want, and then have > them guide the bio-me through it step by step in the common language. > > Back to the original question... as someone who believes in some kind of > biological energy connection, I believe that it would most likely be severed > from the electronic-me. But I have wondered what would happen if we used > synthetic biology to create another host-body, and transferred > consciousnesses to it.... I am not sure if we would then have two biological > energy connections (me original-me, and duplicate-me were both made of living > material), and if so would they be 'the same' or would there be a 'new' > connection for the synthetic-me? > > But then this brings us to the question of where that energy is connected to > us.... (Ship of Theseus)... I feel as though it is in the brain... so how > much could we augment the brain before it might no longer be able to maintain > that energy connection? I feel as though if any of the brain is still living, > then the connection would likely be there. (if my beliefs are valid... which > I do not mean to propose, IN ANY WAY, that they are... I am merely answering > your question from my point of view, because it seems that you are interested > in the data of others). > > -Bells > > ~ > Bells Hakala > (617) 416-4142 > > > > > On Tue, Sep 18, 2018 at 6:07 PM Jim Bromer via AGI <[email protected]> > wrote: >> >> I already regret asking these questions, but do you truly (really - >> honestly) believe that: >> Conscious Experience or soul or Qualia or the experience of being (or >> whatever you want to call it) does not actually exist (or occur)? >> and/or >> This experience (whatever you want to call it) can therefore occur in >> a computer program? >> Jim Bromer > > Artificial General Intelligence List / AGI / see discussions + participants + > delivery options Permalink ------------------------------------------ Artificial General Intelligence List: AGI Permalink: https://agi.topicbox.com/groups/agi/T2e5182d7ce6527f7-Mf54acebbb66161fc0f2d3986 Delivery options: https://agi.topicbox.com/groups/agi/subscription
