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I wonder though, even if you could 'transfer' your brain to software, there would be a 'switch', where you'll get rid of your body in the process. Then the (sof

I wonder though, even if you could 'transfer' your brain to software, there would be a 'switch', where you'll get rid of your body in the process. Then the (software) copy will start being you. Then when you die / kill the physical self - the you you dies. The one you are now. Would it actually make a difference to know that there's another you out there that didn't die? It's just a comforting feeling that you're not really gone, and that your mind keeps "living". I'm just not sure if it's much more comforting than believing in reincarnation or that your soul goes to heaven in my opinion.

detritus 12y ago
This is just it though, isn't it? Sort of like Transporter technology in Star Trek, wherein everyone ignores the elephant in the room - all their friends died years ago, many times. Sure, they've a technology which creates perfect facsimiles after de-materialisation, but the Spock you knew and loved (or, at least, tolerated), and were just speaking to on-board a few moments ago, died, along with you, when you beamed down to the planet's surface. Much like normal neuronal biological growth, we'll need for the process to be as subtle and time-spanning as we can, presumably matching neuronal growth rates, so that we don't notice that we've killed ourselves in the process.