Re: FAQ section 2: What is uploading?

John Leppik wrote:
> The hypothesis as I understand it is that somehow we will be able
to replace the neurons in a living, conscious, working brain one-by-
one with non-biological neurons, without damage, without loss,
without change. Neurons are not tiny grains of rice in a bowl. As I
am aware, each has hundreds or thousands of miniscule tentacles,
intertwined with other similar entities which function dynamically in
a managed chemo-electro-magneto soup in a manner in which the
software cannot be separated from the hardware. What kind of process
could possibly detect with certainty what is there, how it functions,
how it is controlled, how something non-biological could be devised
to do the same, replace the existing with a newly manufactured item
in a different technology and all of this without damaging anything
or disrupting the operation? Even if the neurons could be replaced
thus, the brain could not. We would now have, say a silicon brain,
but how would it be powered and how would it interface with the body
and at the same time dispense with blood, electrical and other juice
flows? The replacement would have to be done with a great deal of re-
engineering of the interfaces.

John: Our brains actually do this already. Over the course of your
life every atom in your brain is replaced, without, it would seem,
any ill effect on the user. The technology you are craving would
appear to be at the nano or femto scale, which would require a very
strong/Drexlerian realization of nanotech.

> It all seems like a wet dream.

Actually, it's more a wetware dream at this point ;-)
Yes, I share many of your concerns, particularly the destructive vs.
non-destructive uploading issue and the preservation of the
continuity of self. Yet, like yourself, I find the 'replacement'
or 'prostheticizing" of the brain more reasonable.

Regards,
George Dvorsky
Vice President, Toronto Transhumanist Association
http://toronto.transhumanism.com
http://www.sentientdevelopments.com
mailto:george@betterhumans.com
Received on Sat Oct 19 19:02:10 2002