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In order for me to still feel like "me" afterward, there would have to be a linking stage during which I could get used to this digital extension of my mind, li

In order for me to still feel like "me" afterward, there would have to be a linking stage during which I could get used to this digital extension of my mind, like an artificial limb for me to get used to as part of my body. Then, as the biological mind withered and died, like pouring a liquid from one container to another, the digital brain would come to represent a larger and larger part of "me", finally containing all of my consciousness. You could compare the process to how the cells of your body (in particular your brain) eventually all get replaced, yet the stream of consciousness flows uninterrupted through a number of these replacements.

harha_ 3y ago
This. I can think of a 3D+time process where your "continuum" isn't interrupted.
- failuser 3y ago
  Your continuum is interrupted all the time, e.g. by sleep or loss of continence. Is that subjectively different from death? A pretty scary thought. Will waking up as a different being feel no different?
  - lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 3y ago
    > Will waking up as a different being feel no different? I expect it would. Much of my experience has to do with the "hardware" (so to speak) of my body. It's difficult to imagine what it would be like if my brain was mechanical (physics-based) instead of biological (chemistry-based), for example. Abstract thought seems like the only thing that even could be the same. (Also, continence -> consciousness. I'm literally pissing myself over that. :D)
  - harha_ 3y ago
    Continuum was probably a bad word choice. I meant that if you visualize the brain over time, as a 3D-object travelling through time, and there's a 'bridge' over time from the biological brain to the digital brain. This bridge would have to encompass everything that's related to consciousness and it somehow would transfer the conscious experience between those two things over time. So the biological and digital brain would be causally linked. I'm not a physicist, as you can guess, just a layman pondering.
mschuster91 3y ago
The ethical conundrum is: at one point and afterwards, there will be "two" of you - basically, a digital fork of your physical consciousness. Now, the physical consciousness may wish to live a separate life instead of fully "passing over" or ceasing to exist eventually (i.e. to die). But who will be considered "you" from that point? The physical "you" or the virtual "you"? Can the virtual "you" force the physical "you" to die?
- amacbride 3y ago
  Explored brilliantly in "Learning To Be Me" by Greg Egan, a short story in his collection "Axiomatic."
  - yamtaddle 3y ago
    I've got that one in a pretty-good short story collection called Beyond Flesh. Decent book to track down for anyone who wants a bunch of stories about that broad category of stuff.

harha_ 3y ago

This. I can think of a 3D+time process where your "continuum" isn't interrupted.

failuser 3y ago
Your continuum is interrupted all the time, e.g. by sleep or loss of continence. Is that subjectively different from death? A pretty scary thought. Will waking up as a different being feel no different?
- lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 3y ago
  > Will waking up as a different being feel no different? I expect it would. Much of my experience has to do with the "hardware" (so to speak) of my body. It's difficult to imagine what it would be like if my brain was mechanical (physics-based) instead of biological (chemistry-based), for example. Abstract thought seems like the only thing that even could be the same. (Also, continence -> consciousness. I'm literally pissing myself over that. :D)
- harha_ 3y ago
  Continuum was probably a bad word choice. I meant that if you visualize the brain over time, as a 3D-object travelling through time, and there's a 'bridge' over time from the biological brain to the digital brain. This bridge would have to encompass everything that's related to consciousness and it somehow would transfer the conscious experience between those two things over time. So the biological and digital brain would be causally linked. I'm not a physicist, as you can guess, just a layman pondering.

mschuster91 3y ago

The ethical conundrum is: at one point and afterwards, there will be "two" of you - basically, a digital fork of your physical consciousness. Now, the physical consciousness may wish to live a separate life instead of fully "passing over" or ceasing to exist eventually (i.e. to die). But who will be considered "you" from that point? The physical "you" or the virtual "you"? Can the virtual "you" force the physical "you" to die?

amacbride 3y ago
Explored brilliantly in "Learning To Be Me" by Greg Egan, a short story in his collection "Axiomatic."
- yamtaddle 3y ago
  I've got that one in a pretty-good short story collection called Beyond Flesh. Decent book to track down for anyone who wants a bunch of stories about that broad category of stuff.