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A related thought experiment has to do with the possibility of someday using cyborg technology as a way to stave off dementia and Alzheimer's. If it turns out

A related thought experiment has to do with the possibility of someday using cyborg technology as a way to stave off dementia and Alzheimer's. If it turns out that you could replace the brain's long-term memory database with a computer database without losing any sentience, that would allow people to avoid the tragedy of losing their memories. This would require that the brain's database section is not a sentient part of the human brain, and that the sentient experience of reliving a memory happens elsewhere in the brain (perhaps in the perception centers). This conjecture feels plausible to me as reliving a memory feels similar to perceiving a VR video recording of the memory, just much less vivid, but seeming to indicate that the perception centers are involved. Furthermore, memories that are not currently being accessed are not "felt" at all, further suggesting that the long-term memory store might plausibly be a non-sentient part of our brains.

shagie 4y ago
I'm not sure if this is in the Love Death and Robots version of Zima Blue - but it was part of the written story. The clips from people reviewing the LD&R version of it always concentrate on Zima and its pursuit of the color. There's an entire second story about the reporter that is intertwined with Zima. > ‘But there isn’t anything natural about being alive a thousand years after I was born,’ I said. ‘My organic memory reached saturation point about seven hundred years ago. My head’s like a house with too much furniture. Move something in, you have to move something out.’ > ‘Let’s go back to the wine for a moment,’ Zima said. ‘Normally, you’d have relied on the advice of the AM, wouldn’t you?’ > I shrugged. ‘Yes.’ > ‘Would the AM always suggest one of the two possibilities? Always red wine, or always white wine, for instance?’ > ‘It’s not that simplistic,’ I said. ‘If I had a strong preference for one over the other, then yes, the AM would always recommend one wine over the other. But I don’t. I like red wine sometimes and white wine other times. Sometimes I don’t want any kind of wine.’ I hoped my frustration wasn’t obvious. But after the elaborate charade with the blue card, the robot and the conveyor, the last thing I wanted to be discussing with Zima was my own imperfect recall. There's another page of the story that starts out with "As for me . . ." and happens several couple of decades later as the reporter reflects.

shagie 4y ago

I'm not sure if this is in the Love Death and Robots version of Zima Blue - but it was part of the written story. The clips from people reviewing the LD&R version of it always concentrate on Zima and its pursuit of the color. There's an entire second story about the reporter that is intertwined with Zima. > ‘But there isn’t anything natural about being alive a thousand years after I was born,’ I said. ‘My organic memory reached saturation point about seven hundred years ago. My head’s like a house with too much furniture. Move something in, you have to move something out.’ > ‘Let’s go back to the wine for a moment,’ Zima said. ‘Normally, you’d have relied on the advice of the AM, wouldn’t you?’ > I shrugged. ‘Yes.’ > ‘Would the AM always suggest one of the two possibilities? Always red wine, or always white wine, for instance?’ > ‘It’s not that simplistic,’ I said. ‘If I had a strong preference for one over the other, then yes, the AM would always recommend one wine over the other. But I don’t. I like red wine sometimes and white wine other times. Sometimes I don’t want any kind of wine.’ I hoped my frustration wasn’t obvious. But after the elaborate charade with the blue card, the robot and the conveyor, the last thing I wanted to be discussing with Zima was my own imperfect recall. There's another page of the story that starts out with "As for me . . ." and happens several couple of decades later as the reporter reflects.