3 ms·

> being alive has a 100% mortality rate. Well we assume it does but so far only about 95%

tim333 12y ago
Yeah, historically it has had a 100% mortality rate but there is a significant chance that things will change. eg. uploads http://www.inquisitr.com/1883084/mind-trip-humans-to-live-forever-by-2030-as-persons-consciousness-could-be-uploaded-to-computer/ http://www.inquisitr.com/1883084/mind-trip-humans-to-live-fo... and the like
- Mahn 12y ago
  This idea of "uploading" the mind shows up every now and then and it is interesting, but I think that ultimately we need a much deeper understanding in what consciousness is and how it works, because as it stands right now, it sounds like at most we would be able to replicate or copy a mind (provided the computing power gets us there), but not so much "transfer" or "upload". This is because, as far as we know, if a computer were to perfectly recreate my brain, I wouldn't automatically exist in the computer, nor I would exists in both the computer and my body; but rather the computer would be an artificial self aware being with my data (memories, knowledge, etc) on it. But then again we need to understand consciousness better to give meaningful answers to these questions.
  - jpindar 12y ago
    One way to get around this might be to replace one section of the brain at a time with an electronic equivalent.
    - tim333 12y ago
      Yeah - the brain replacement stuff is already happening in a very minor way with cochlear implants and the like. Apart from the technical difficulties of uploading there are a lot of questions on what you'd actually want to do and why. Just having a simulation of you running on some box or a copy on Github might seem a bit pointless and I'm not sure many people would want it. I've thought of a couple of possibly practical things. Firstly for the benefit of the friends and relatives remaining alive it might be nice to chat to a version of the person who's biological body has packed up. This wouldn't even require uploading in the manner of scanning the brain. It could just be an AI that was good at method acting and 'becoming' the person in the way that a human actor can. I'd quite like an ongoing version of my gran for example who I could chat to. I guess more of a skype type chat than a robot. The other thing is death is annoying for the creation of art and similar stuff. It would be cool if there was an ongoing version of Beethoven say cranking out new symphonies. Also personally it would be nice to work on intellectual stuff that exceeds what I can do in a biological lifespan. I guess if the AI seems conscious at least as in being aware of stuff and interacts normally with people who are conscious in the normal biological way that's probably enough - it doesn't really matter what the philosophers think of it.
  - pikachu_is_cool 12y ago
    You never know. What's happening right now might be a memory in the computer's brain.
pikachu_is_cool 12y ago
Wow... when you put it that way, you wonder why we aren't making more progress than we already are.

Yeah, historically it has had a 100% mortality rate but there is a significant chance that things will change. eg. uploads http://www.inquisitr.com/1883084/mind-trip-humans-to-live-forever-by-2030-as-persons-consciousness-could-be-uploaded-to-computer/ http://www.inquisitr.com/1883084/mind-trip-humans-to-live-fo... and the like

Mahn 12y ago
This idea of "uploading" the mind shows up every now and then and it is interesting, but I think that ultimately we need a much deeper understanding in what consciousness is and how it works, because as it stands right now, it sounds like at most we would be able to replicate or copy a mind (provided the computing power gets us there), but not so much "transfer" or "upload". This is because, as far as we know, if a computer were to perfectly recreate my brain, I wouldn't automatically exist in the computer, nor I would exists in both the computer and my body; but rather the computer would be an artificial self aware being with my data (memories, knowledge, etc) on it. But then again we need to understand consciousness better to give meaningful answers to these questions.
- jpindar 12y ago
  One way to get around this might be to replace one section of the brain at a time with an electronic equivalent.
  - tim333 12y ago
    Yeah - the brain replacement stuff is already happening in a very minor way with cochlear implants and the like. Apart from the technical difficulties of uploading there are a lot of questions on what you'd actually want to do and why. Just having a simulation of you running on some box or a copy on Github might seem a bit pointless and I'm not sure many people would want it. I've thought of a couple of possibly practical things. Firstly for the benefit of the friends and relatives remaining alive it might be nice to chat to a version of the person who's biological body has packed up. This wouldn't even require uploading in the manner of scanning the brain. It could just be an AI that was good at method acting and 'becoming' the person in the way that a human actor can. I'd quite like an ongoing version of my gran for example who I could chat to. I guess more of a skype type chat than a robot. The other thing is death is annoying for the creation of art and similar stuff. It would be cool if there was an ongoing version of Beethoven say cranking out new symphonies. Also personally it would be nice to work on intellectual stuff that exceeds what I can do in a biological lifespan. I guess if the AI seems conscious at least as in being aware of stuff and interacts normally with people who are conscious in the normal biological way that's probably enough - it doesn't really matter what the philosophers think of it.
- pikachu_is_cool 12y ago
  You never know. What's happening right now might be a memory in the computer's brain.

pikachu_is_cool 12y ago

Wow... when you put it that way, you wonder why we aren't making more progress than we already are.