Thread: How are we not a computer?

That depends on what you mean by "me". One way of looking at it is that you are never killed as long as there is a "you", somewhere. Whether it is a clone, consciousness downloaded on a computer, you after having a severe brain injury or you a few years from now; it's a "you" who obviously thinks it's alive. This is sort of an "objective" you, defined by the way it experiences itself in regards to it's memories. So it's an illusory entity, one we have to use to live our daily lives.

I guess I could say that I don't care too much of this kind of soul, because our consciousness always exists (as it's experienced) in the present moment. What I was as a child is not what I was as a baby and definitely not something I am now. If I realize this sort of reality then I can deduce it on every moment of my life to find out that I'm living it for somebody else who is a moment in the future ad infinitum or should I say that "I'm" living so others could experience me existing. It's like with an organism and its cells. Your cells die all the time and are replaced, nothing relatively unique about them. There is nothing really "in it" for the single cell, all by itself. It's just a tiny piece of a structure like your current thought is a moment in your life. There is nothing in it for you other than the objective "whole" which you help to create. It's nothing new or special really. It seems that in nature there is no concept of "individuality". It's always about patterns and information. It doesn't matter which water molecule is which, just that it has two hydrogens and an oxygen. That's why when our daily reality clashes with nature, as we see with these futuristic concepts, we don't know exactly how to react. It seems that nature "doesn't care" about our concepts of individuality and existence. If the last thing you see is your clone throwing the old you away then just the way it is .

Whether or not the above is true... the other way of thinking about the soul, is it being the subjective experience, the thing that right now thinks, percieves and is reading the post, then it's much more complicated. Perhaps also much more interesting to philosophize about.

Originally Posted by Bonsay

That depends on what you mean by "me". One way of looking at it is that you are never killed as long as there is a "you", somewhere. Whether it is a clone, consciousness downloaded on a computer, you after having a severe brain injury or you a few years from now; it's a "you" who obviously thinks it's alive. This is sort of an "objective" you, defined by the way it experiences itself in regards to it's memories. So it's an illusory entity, one we have to use to live our daily lives.

I guess I could say that I don't care too much of this kind of soul, because our consciousness always exists (as it's experienced) in the present moment. What I was as a child is not what I was as a baby and definitely not something I am now. If I realize this sort of reality then I can deduce it on every moment of my life to find out that I'm living it for somebody else who is a moment in the future ad infinitum or should I say that "I'm" living so others could experience me existing. It's like with an organism and its cells. Your cells die all the time and are replaced, nothing relatively unique about them. There is nothing really "in it" for the single cell, all by itself. It's just a tiny piece of a structure like your current thought is a moment in your life. There is nothing in it for you other than the objective "whole" which you help to create. It's nothing new or special really. It seems that in nature there is no concept of "individuality". It's always about patterns and information. It doesn't matter which water molecule is which, just that it has two hydrogens and an oxygen. That's why when our daily reality clashes with nature, as we see with these futuristic concepts, we don't know exactly how to react. It seems that nature "doesn't care" about our concepts of individuality and existence. If the last thing you see is your clone throwing the old you away then just the way it is .

Whether or not the above is true... the other way of thinking about the soul, is it being the subjective experience, the thing that right now thinks, percieves and is reading the post, then it's much more complicated. Perhaps also much more interesting to philosophize about.

Good post.

That's my take on futurism and immortality; even if the goals were attainable, you're struggling to preserve something that doesn't exist.

Originally Posted by Taosaur

Good post.

That's my take on futurism and immortality; even if the goals were attainable, you're struggling to preserve something that doesn't exist.

Well, it exists as long as you see it that way. I mean people might strive for immortality in this regard as long as they feel they exist. Without realizing it, or better yet experiencing it yourself, it's kind of hard to concieve concepts so different from what we know and experience now. So if humanity makes it to this point - with all the futuristic technology - I'm sure problems like these will fade out as people adapt. After all, if it's commonplace, at this x point in the future, to get implants and become some trans-human, it's probably not too extreme to take that extra step to immortality (whatever is the thing that's immortal in this case).

Originally Posted by Bonsay

Well, it exists as long as you see it that way. I mean people might strive for immortality in this regard as long as they feel they exist. Without realizing it, or better yet experiencing it yourself, it's kind of hard to concieve concepts so different from what we know and experience now. So if humanity makes it to this point - with all the futuristic technology - I'm sure problems like these will fade out as people adapt. After all, if it's commonplace, at this x point in the future, to get implants and become some trans-human, it's probably not too extreme to take that extra step to immortality (whatever is the thing that's immortal in this case).

I'd be one of the first guys on the immortality bandwagon, for sure. Quietly protesting the 10-character limit)