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this is not an endorsement of the zyzzians, this is a shitpost.
I’m a bit out of my depth here,but while this sounds like a nice idea and all,how would I get to experience that nice immortality myself? I understand your point about sleep,but at least there you have some continuity,that being that your consciousness exists within your body,whereas a digital copy has little to no continuity with what’s here right now.
I mean,I get why it wouldn’t matter to other people,they’d see no difference,but if I go lights out in the physical world and the copy lives on in some metaverse heaven,how would that have saved me personally? For all intents and purposes what would be out there would be reflection taking my place in the world after I’m gone. A good copy,but for me it’s a copy nonetheless. I mean,it’s great that some copy of me would be existing out there having fun,but it’s not so great for me the human,being dead and all.
Okay, so this is predicated on the assumption that the self is fundamentally just data (memories, feelings, thoughts), and if a machine can simulate that data accurately enough then it will have have recreated that self even if the previous self is gone.
I believe worrying about if “I’m gone” if my data copy is alive is metaphysics. There is no “I” - there’s only the data I’m made of.
Going further, because the data of the self is always being corrupted and lost, worrying about perfection is also metaphysics. I am I even if my data is incomplete, because our dataforms are always changing anyway just the the course of living.
Ok,then I guess I believe in a soul or something like it apparently
Because I care more about the continuity of my consciousness rather than a data archive existing after my expiration date
Don’t get me wrong,it’s good for future generations to have access to that knowledge,but I can’t help but think that the spark within me that is alive right now would be gone
Hell,no way to know if either of us are wrong,and I do see your point,but I just think that unless you ensure the continuity of consciousness,what you’re gonna get is a new being,very similar to me, but never really “me” so to speak
Also,not to sift through old struggle sessions,but I can’t help but think a certain killer of Kissinger would not look favorably upon that take (or not,never interacted that much with the person)
I can’t write a good post but yeah, the phenomenal character of being (like, existing, experiencing, etc) is more than mere data.
Your brain is not a computer, putting it in a robot body would be so far from the embodied experience of being you that I don’t think even that would be “you”.
I believe worrying about if “I’m gone” if my data copy is alive is metaphysics. There is no “I” - there’s only the data I’m made of.
Not weighing in on the actual debate here, but just pointing out that “there is no I - there is only the data I’m made of” is also definitely metaphysics.
Well my self is also embodied in my actual flesh. I am my scars and gut flora and muscles and genetic predispositions.
My self isn’t even fully contained in my body! My self is also in my living space and my family and my friends and my coworkers and all my other social connections. I am I because of everything and everyone around me.
And I am also my historical and material context, what makes me “me” can’t be separated from my class position within this epoch of capitalism.
But those, too, can be simulated as more data points. I really don’t think there’s anything that can’t be represented as data.
