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From: rlr@pyuxd.UUCP (Rich Rosen)
Newsgroups: net.philosophy,net.religion
Subject: Re: More Atheistic Wishful Thinking
Message-ID: <1781@pyuxd.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 25-Sep-85 00:39:37 EDT
Article-I.D.: pyuxd.1781
Posted: Wed Sep 25 00:39:37 1985
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> I know you don't like my unix analogy. i don't know *why* you think that
> my memories could not be transferred to a clone of me. The physical
> structure is the same, and you were the one who said that memories are
> ``just chemicals''. You get the chemicals in laura-prime to match the
> chemicals in laura and therby transfer all my stored memories and whatnot.
> why can't I do this? [LAURA]

I'll go through it one last time (I hope).  UNIX, as you describe it, does
NOT include all the data (the knowledge/the catalogues of experiences that
make you "you").  Porting UNIX is analogous to porting "a" brain, not
a particular brain.  Porting UNIX might involve tuning, configuration,
system generation, in any desirable way at all, not caring about previously
known device addresses or ports and the particular interface involved,
or about previously loaded databases with significant information that is
used continuously.  What Wingate may be misconstruing in all our talk about
input/output ports (he seems content to discuss re-"tuning" his input ports
to understand the "new" version of "blue" that might be seen), is that
(if we're to carry this analogy to its illogical conclusion) ALL device
addresses, ports, pathways, locations of "initialization" data, etc. MUST
be exactly the same or the "system won't come up".  (Believe me, I've
dealt with such migrations, these are worries.)

The point is not that this is impossible, but that it's not just a matter of
a brain dump/restore into ANY new body.
-- 
"to be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best night and day
 to make you like everybody else means to fight the hardest battle any human
 being can fight and never stop fighting."  - e. e. cummings
	Rich Rosen	ihnp4!pyuxd!rlr


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