Posted by Jason on August 06, 1998 at 13:08:04:
In Reply to: Virtual Reality and Identity posted by Pierre Charles on August 05, 1998 at 19:16:43:
If you have problems with this idea, it may be that you see a separation between the "spirit" and the body. If a machine is able to record your exact electro-chemical reactions and "download" them to your clone, theres no way for you to know the difference, unless someone explain it to you. Surely, a civilisation with this knowledge will be taken for "Gods".
I do not believe in a 'spirit' (doesn't mean there isn't one, but there you go). I think we are biochemical machines that can be exhaustively described by physical laws. If this is true, then we could be perfectly emulated. The reason I'm bothered is because I want to know if the emulation is really ME!
On second thought, maybe it does bother me for just that reason. I have always previously believed in a 'spirit' in which our conscience identity resides or which gives rise to conscience identity. This is what I was taught as a Catholic growing up and was taught even more stringently as a Mormon. I'm still shaking it loose, I guess.
By the way, Pierre, I don't understand your references to a 'clone'. Are you talking about a literal, biological clone? Or are you using the word just as I use the 'emulation'?
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