Let us consider an interesting thought experiment, which may perhaps
seem fanciful and irrelevant, but which technology may make very
relevant in several decades.
Let us imagine a machine called Scan and Duplicate, that works on an
atomic level. The machine scans the atoms in a person's body, from
the tip of your toes to the top of your head. As it is scanning, the
machine produces an exact duplicate of what it is scanning. The only
problem is that in order to do this exact reading of the state of all
atoms in your body, the machine must destroy each part of your body
that it scans.
So as the machine scans your body from your toes to the top of your
head, each layer of your body is destroyed: first your feet, then
your shins, then your knees, then your thighs, then your thorax, and
finally your head. But as each part of your body is destroyed, a
duplicate body is being assembled next to yours.
Finally at the end of this process, your body is a charred, blackened
mess, like a chicken that was left in the oven at 500 degrees for
three hours. A blanket is placed over this burnt body, and the body
is wheeled to the incinerator. However, the newly created body
awakens and it claims to be you.
“Well, that all went very well,” says the freshly assembled
person, and that person goes on living the rest of your life,
remembering everything in your memory.
Now my question is: is this newly constructed person you? Or did you
die when this operation is done, and is the surviving person merely a
copy of you?
When I posed this question to my family, I got different answers from
different family members. My answer is: the newly assembled person is
not you, but is merely a copy of you. If this operation were to be
done, you would die during the operation. There would be a newly
created person that would act just like you, but it would merely be a
copy of you; it would not be you.
This thought experiment is relevant because of a technological
possibility that has been widely discussed: the possibility of
uploading a human mind into a computer or robot.
Some technological enthusiasts imagine that in several decades we
will be able to create computers or robots that have all of the
capabilities of the human brain, with a great deal of additional
memory and processing power. Such enthusiasts imagine that we might
be able to scan a person's brain and transfer a person's
consciousness to a robot body or a computer. Such a technique has
been promoted as a way of achieving immortality through technology.
There are two types of mind uploading that can be imagined:
destructive uploading (in which the original brain of the person is
destroyed) and non-destructive uploading (in which the original brain
and body of the person is preserved).
Let us imagine non-destructive uploading to a robot body that
resembles your body. Your mind is copied to a robot body, and now two
people are walking around with your memories and personality.
In this case, it is fairly obvious that the newly created mind (with
all your same memories) would not really be you. Because in this
case, your original body and mind would be preserved. So the real you
would be the original you, not the new entity that looked like you
and had your personality.
What is a little less obvious, but still something very likely, is
that even in the case of destructive uploading the newly created
entity would not be you. If your body is destroyed at the same time
that a new biological or robot entity is created with all your
memories and personality, it would really mean that you had died,
even though a newly created person would continue to act like you and
remember what you had remembered. If a doctor performed such an
operation, he would actually be guilty of murder.
You might argue that it would not be murder for the doctor to perform
such an operation, because even though your original body had been destroyed,
there would be a new life, so the net number of living persons would
be unchanged. But we don't exonerate someone for killing just because
he created a new life at the same time he ended another life. “I
impregnated my wife at the time of the murder” is not a successful
defense in court against a charge of murder.
Because of considerations such as these, you should take no comfort
in stories about the possibility of mind uploading. Mind uploading
wouldn't really extend your lifespan; at best it would mean
additional years for someone or something that was a copy of you. If
you want to entertain the prospect of living far beyond the human
lifespan, you can consider possibilities such as biological life
extension or replacing your body below the neck with a robot body or
the possibility that near death experiences suggest a chance of
spiritual immortality. I don't believe mind uploading is going to
save anyone from the Grim Reaper.
For an excellent blog post considering other problems with the idea of
mind uploading, check the blog post here.
No comments:
Post a Comment