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Even if that were possible, and theoretically we could take the entirety of a person's brain and emulate every synapse into digital storage, along with enough c

Even if that were possible, and theoretically we could take the entirety of a person's brain and emulate every synapse into digital storage, along with enough compute to run everything (which is a massive hurdle to overcome), would it really still be you? I kind of think about it a bit like the transporter deck from Star Trek. Are those people really travelling somewhere else or are they getting cloned and then done like Hugh Jackman at the end of The Prestige? How would anyone even know? A computer simulated you would seem like you to everyone else, but you'd already be gone.

ceejayoz 2y ago
> How would anyone even know? If no one can ever know, I'm not sure I care. Transport me to cool places all you like.
incongruity 2y ago
Worse, still, unless the current me blinks out of existence, "old me" will still be around - unless we can replace neurons in-place with computational analogs, the original me is destined to die, almost no matter what, even if a copy/download is made. From the download's perspective, it continues, but the original, if not ended then and there, still faces a grim end and will know it.
- ceejayoz 2y ago
  If painless (or I don't remember it), I'm 100% fine with a fairly speedy destructive upload process.
  - highwaylights 2y ago
    You won't remember it as you'll cease to exist at all is the point.
    - ceejayoz 2y ago
      My consciousness gets interrupted on a nightly basis. One more will be fine.
      - incongruity 2y ago
        Yep. Part of me is terrified every time I go to sleep -- but the sleepiness wins.
nikkwong 2y ago
The correct answer is that there is no "you". Continuity in consciousness is an illusion that can be deconstructed through deep enough meditation, or more accessibly through psychedelics. It certainly feels like there is as "you" at the center, but what you call "you" is sort of a narrative that your brain is stitching together at each moment, and it can be subject to distortion, revision, reinvention. You are not the same "you" from moment to moment--you are just reassembled by your brain every second in a way that feels conscious. So I would say there is a false dichotomy in the center here. If "you" are already an illusion, digital emulation just manipulates that illusion in different ways. Whether or not "you" survive in a literal sense is not the right question, there was not a fixed "you" to keep or lose in the first place
cbsks 2y ago
I’m in the middle of a sci-fi book that explores this. The answer is that you won’t be the same person. Your mind will meld with the computer’s AI and you will go insane and try to exterminate the human race. I wouldn’t risk it.

ceejayoz 2y ago

> How would anyone even know? If no one can ever know, I'm not sure I care. Transport me to cool places all you like.

incongruity 2y ago

Worse, still, unless the current me blinks out of existence, "old me" will still be around - unless we can replace neurons in-place with computational analogs, the original me is destined to die, almost no matter what, even if a copy/download is made. From the download's perspective, it continues, but the original, if not ended then and there, still faces a grim end and will know it.

ceejayoz 2y ago
If painless (or I don't remember it), I'm 100% fine with a fairly speedy destructive upload process.
- highwaylights 2y ago
  You won't remember it as you'll cease to exist at all is the point.
  - ceejayoz 2y ago
    My consciousness gets interrupted on a nightly basis. One more will be fine.
    - incongruity 2y ago
      Yep. Part of me is terrified every time I go to sleep -- but the sleepiness wins.

nikkwong 2y ago

The correct answer is that there is no "you". Continuity in consciousness is an illusion that can be deconstructed through deep enough meditation, or more accessibly through psychedelics. It certainly feels like there is as "you" at the center, but what you call "you" is sort of a narrative that your brain is stitching together at each moment, and it can be subject to distortion, revision, reinvention. You are not the same "you" from moment to moment--you are just reassembled by your brain every second in a way that feels conscious. So I would say there is a false dichotomy in the center here. If "you" are already an illusion, digital emulation just manipulates that illusion in different ways. Whether or not "you" survive in a literal sense is not the right question, there was not a fixed "you" to keep or lose in the first place

cbsks 2y ago

I’m in the middle of a sci-fi book that explores this. The answer is that you won’t be the same person. Your mind will meld with the computer’s AI and you will go insane and try to exterminate the human race. I wouldn’t risk it.