From: Robert J. Bradbury (bradbury@aeiveos.com)
Date: Sat Oct 12 2002 - 09:13:29 MDT
On Fri, 11 Oct 2002, gts wrote:
> I mean that at least some the non-genetic neuronal structures change *as a
> result of changes in gene expression in response to stimuli*.
Agreed. But given the time it takes proteins to be transported
to the synapses, one might argue that personality (at least the
genetic component of it) is relatively "fixed" -- probably for
at least hours. I would suspect that more significant aspects
(such as those involved with SAD) might require days to weeks
to change. The only component I can think of that responds
on a faster scale is the fight-or-flight response.
> Because changes in gene expression change at least some non-genetic neuronal
> structures in time in response to stimuli, we must include those genetic
> instructions in our uploaded personalities so that our neurons can respond
> true to our existing personalities to future stimuli that are not present at
> the time of the uploading.
Yes, this makes sense. Though it seems likely that we will have
much more control over the built-in aspects of personality long
before we have uploading. Now that the genome is done I'd expect
the research community to quickly isolate all of the neuroendocrine
signals and receptors and develop drugs to tweek them. We might have
a large fraction of that done within this decade.
> That has been my position all along, Robert. As I've stated several times in
> this thread, I define genes by function rather than form. We must encode for
> those instructions if we hope to upload ourselves and preserve our
> personalities. By "encoding those instructions" I mean the same thing as
> "emulating those instructions."
I may have missed this point. I don't think I read the earliest
messages in the thread.
But it may also be true that uploads may wish to leave behind some
aspects of these signaling systems. There are certainly people
who might be better "citizens" with diminished testosterone levels.
I myself would be happy to have my clock genes independent of sunlight
levels. Etc.
Robert
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sat Nov 02 2002 - 09:17:30 MST