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originally posted in:Secular Sevens
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Edited by A3LeggedBurrito:
3/1/2014 4:51:12 PM
21
Would a Human Mind in a Non-human Body Still be Human?
So, this is an interesting thought. If a human consciousness in its entirety were to be transmitted into some kind of non-human surrogate, would you regard that vessel as human? I guess another related question would be, "How much do our bodies play a role in making us who we are?" Of course, this also requires a definition of human.
Personally, I think the affect of our bodies on our character and values is often underestimated. The body sets one's limitations and shapes how one experiences reality. I believe our mortality and weaknesses are fundamental parts of the human experience. So, I guess I would answer 'no' to this question.
What do you think? Yes? No? It depends?
For clarity, the surrogate could be either biological (like another species of animal) or non-biological (like a robot). However, I am gearing the question toward the non-biological scenario, but if you want to discuss the biological one, that's fine as well.
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4 RepliesOn the topic of the digital consciousness thing, I don't think our current silicone processing technology can handle human complexity. Transistors rely on positive/null binary programming, which works great for calculations but lacks the complexity of context. Neurons are not positive/null binary systems. They activate through a bunch of different means, cascading signals through one another. There are null/positive integers there, but its waaay more complex than just those logic gates. Its like asking a person which way to go to the market, expecting a left or right direction to be given, but told north by northwest instead. Until we can make some sort of computing technology which can duplicate that at least 4 way system of logic gates in contrast to our current binary systems, we won't ever be able to ever start to duplicate neuronal data in any meaningful terms. In order to gain contextual perspective, something more than the binary system will have to be derived.
