"phil osborn" <philosborn@hotmail.com> writes:
> The problem here is that most "uploaders" seem to consider only the pattern
> of neural impulses, their storage, tranmission, the particulars of the
> neurons and how they process input to produce output. In fact, this is only
> one aspect of consciousness. Transmisssion and storage of information also
> takes place on totally non-"digital" levels, as in the focusing and
> activations of groups or systems of neurons via hormonal discharge or
> takeup, which may be experienced as emotion or various states of general
> attention or preparedness. Or the physiological feedback from your own body
> as it serves to cue or clue. You could then totally mimic the logic and
> miss attaining a real upload at all. But, in reality, you aren't mimicking
> the logic, but only what that limited linear processing model takes into
> account.
No serious upload proposals leave this out. Fortunately hormone
interactions and similar chemical information processing seems to be
computationally fairly simple to simulate (albeit of course incredibly
messy). They might not be digital, but that doesn't make them hard to
simulate (in fact, biological realistic neuron simulations treat the
internal states of cells in an analog way and then calculate the
resulting behavior from this - an action potential might look like any
other action potential and appear quite digital, but in a compartment
model simulation they are caused by analogue ion permeability
changes).
> A friend who has spent most of his life trying to create real uploads
> recently put it that the real Turing test is satisfied only when and if the
> individual involved is convinced that he or she really is there in the
> upload.
Interesting friend you have, what kind of methods and models does
he/she use? I agree that the definition of a successful upload in my
opinion would be that the *upload* consider itself to be the
original. What the original (if it still exists) thinks is irrelevant.
-- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Anders Sandberg Towards Ascension! asa@nada.kth.se http://www.nada.kth.se/~asa/ GCS/M/S/O d++ -p+ c++++ !l u+ e++ m++ s+/+ n--- h+/* f+ g+ w++ t+ r+ !y
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