Caroline deleted.

Caroline deleted.

I'd say, that about sums it up.

This reminds me of something in the The Prestige (not going to put any spoilers here). I'd have to agree with rip-off. The computer version might see it that way, but I'm not sure the original who has to actual die will.

Also, how will you really know the copy of you is "you"? Given the fact that the two will co-exist at some point, wouldn't that prove it really isn't you, since from that point on it really is two separate lives making separate decisions.

What would you think about it from a species advancement perspective? If we could store our smartest minds on a harddrive to keep on working post death, we could see some amazing advancements. Any reasonably driven person could reach many times the knowledge gained by any biological human. It would also be interesting to see how much a human brain could think of with the entire knowledge base of humanity interfaced with their "brain".

A modern harddisk has an alleged MTBF of 600,000 hours (about 68 years). The observed MTBF of the disks that I owned during the last 10 years was around 15,000 hours (there used to be a time, during the 1980s, when harddisks were of a much better quality).

I would really hope for my personal MTBF being somewhat higher than 15,000 hours.

(This means: no)

What would you think about it from a species advancement perspective? If we could store our smartest minds on a harddrive to keep on working post death, we could see some amazing advancements. Any reasonably driven person could reach many times the knowledge gained by any biological human. It would also be interesting to see how much a human brain could think of with the entire knowledge base of humanity interfaced with their "brain".

Can you really call it a human brain after it has been digitized?
Would it perceive itself as human anymore and if not, would it care about humanity anymore like Doctor_Manhattan in Watchmen?
Which species would it be more interested in advancing: human or electronic?

[quote name='way2lazy2care' timestamp='1304613253' post='4806969']
What would you think about it from a species advancement perspective? If we could store our smartest minds on a harddrive to keep on working post death, we could see some amazing advancements. Any reasonably driven person could reach many times the knowledge gained by any biological human. It would also be interesting to see how much a human brain could think of with the entire knowledge base of humanity interfaced with their "brain".

Can you really call it a human brain after it has been digitized?
Would it perceive itself as human anymore and if not, would it care about humanity anymore like Doctor_Manhattan in Watchmen?
Which species would it be more interested in advancing: human or electronic?
[/quote]


It would be the person who was copied though I guess over time it's perspective may change. Like if you gave a hobo a million dollars they would become stuck up over a very short period of time. If you gave someone eternal life who knows what may happen?

Only if I can befriend with JC and Halo.

And of course we know how it will ultimately end...

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Can you really call it a human brain after it has been digitized?
Would it perceive itself as human anymore and if not, would it care about humanity anymore like Doctor_Manhattan in Watchmen?
Which species would it be more interested in advancing: human or electronic?

I don't think I called it a human brain. I'd still argue it was a human consciousness though, as it started that way. Really it comes down to what makes you human; your physical body or something else? In the case of Doctor Manhattan, I would still consider him a "human" consciousness despite having a non-human form and vastly expanded capabilities. I will say it did always bug me how he seemed to lose humor after becoming more intelligent as, in my experience, intelligence affects humor positively rather than negatively.

I don't think I called it a human brain. I'd still argue it was a human consciousness though, as it started that way. Really it comes down to what makes you human; your physical body or something else? In the case of Doctor Manhattan, I would still consider him a "human" consciousness despite having a non-human form and vastly expanded capabilities. I will say it did always bug me how he seemed to lose humor after becoming more intelligent as, in my experience, intelligence affects humor positively rather than negatively.

I don't believe it had anything to do with his intelligence, as much as his perception of reality. He barely saw himself as human. In fact I think the only reason he did was due to his perception of all events on his life, past, present, and future, all at the same time. He knew the future, but he also knew he couldn't change it. His conversations with Laurie on the Mars were some of my favorites, where he would talk about conversations they hadn't had yet. The women in his life were pretty much his only real tie to humanity, which when those were severed, he pretty much gave up on humanity.