From: Avatar Polymorph (avatarpolymorph@hotmail.com)
Date: Sat Oct 26 2002 - 02:45:16 MDT
My two cents worth:
A computer hard drive turned off might have a clock ticking over but
otherwise is asleep and turn it on and it is a bit awake and run its
software and it is awake. Sort of anyhow.
Wipe the hard drive clean and reinstall the software from a map you've made
previously and it's a different dog.
You aren't going to find me uploading myself a la Greg Egan. No way. Call me
a materialist. Definitely certainly not with atomic level duplicates.
Quantum level splitting a la Tipler I can cope with, as he describes it.
Atomic level duplicates from maps strike me as continous ritual suicide and
will create a lot of work later on with any quantum duplication/splitting
process a la Tipler. But that's okay!
Nor will you find me using any teleport tech involving dissassembling my
molecules or atoms and assembling an atomic or molecular level body based on
my map elsewhere. I'll jump into a wormhole anytime, by contrast, or the
equivalent.
Direct physical continuity and section-by-section replacement and a
recognition that the three dimensionality of a human brain may need to lie
as a kernel for a more complex brain are all things I adhere to. I also
believe that there are real distinctions between neural nodes and sensory
lines of input and communication lines (whether overtual or virtual). I also
believe that any discussion of these issues have to bear in mind that
so-called software ALWAYS resides on a so-called hardware substrate. Every
copy of a Jane Austin novel is different at the atomic level - and indeed,
the molecular. Every word spoken vibrates different arrangements of air
molecules. Etc..
Also, pesonally, on an area relating to all this - using every spare atom to
form a giant supercomputing substratum and thus (perhaps?) requiring us all
to accept moveable neural nodes (a version of uploading) (presuming we are
all crammed into said supercomputer) ... I can see Tipler's argument,
because it is one proposal to avoid the Big Crunch as a negative event and
ultimately results in a multiverse of choice, however as a generic statment
I myself am quite happy to live at some like my present level immortally but
would prefer a hundred or thousandfold increase in some abilities if
possible, but I wouldn't want to achieve anything that meant people had to
lose their non-brain bodies or accept viruality without choice - nor indeed
that they would have to lose their planets and star, if they're attached to
it. So much lies ahead of course that it's hard to tell what's going to
happen, but for me the focus is on immortality (or amortality) and control
of form and choice (and sysop). Rather than maximum "Uploading" and
computational growth at the expense of the choice of others. Besides which,
to me Robert Heinelin is ALREADY a Matrioshka Brain - at least in principle
- that's why he didn't freeze himself (wink).
Thus my two bits.
Avatar Polymorph
Towards Ascension
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