From: J. R. Molloy (jr@shasta.com)
Date: Tue Dec 12 2000 - 14:17:22 MST
Harvey Newstrom wrote,
> No wonder you have a different view of immortality than I do! Are
> you saying that you disagree that consciousness even exists? If
that
> is the case, you certainly not only fail to preserve consciousness
in
> your copy methods, you have deliberately left it out of
consideration.
Excluding that which is false doesn't constitute a failure, it
resolves problems.
> My dictionary defines consciousness as:
Dictionary definitions of phlogiston and vitalism don't make
phlogiston and vitalism real.
You can define the ghost in the machine any way you want to. That
doesn't make it factual.
> Do you dispute that humans have any or all of these traits? Do
you
> disregard the need for any or all of these states to be preserved
in
> future iterations of yourself?
Humans may have whatever traits one cares to catalog.
Your uploaded human traits may vary, according to how much mythology
and fantasy you care to include with it.
Personally, I have no doubt that pure awareness may manifest in any
system sufficiently complex to allow the emergence of pure
awareness. If a Buddha can happen on Earth, then a Buddha can happen
anywhere in the universe that supports direct experience of reality.
Stay hungry,
--J. R.
3M TA3
"Evolution just naturally comes up with useful things".
--Tom Ray
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