If you could dowload all the information in your brain( all your memories, all your thoughts ,felings , lifes experiances) And then you put all these memories into another body would it be you? You would still know everything you knew the day before, but what about your body? Are we the body we live in, or the mind we poses?
2006-07-09 13:50:36 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Other - Science
great question.... I'd have to say that there are many unknown factors. I like to think of a pair of identical Siamese twins to answer this question. Each has the same body but neither has the same personality. However their thought patterns are so closely in tune that many can seemingly read the other twins mind. So I must say that it is not just experience but that there are other biological factors that come into play. I believe that ones biology and experience help make who you are. I also must point out that sometimes after organ transplants that people gain some new favorite food that the GIVER had b4 he gave his organ. These 2 examples together suggest to me that it would still be you but your personality would change. It would adapt to the new chemical balances, neuron wiring in the brain, and to the remaining biological/physical features you would gain. As in even people after plastic surgery change their personalities being that they are less self conscious.
I say that it would be you under new and different biological pressures. We are the mind we poses filtered by our biological and physical features.
Now that I answered your question... I have one for anyone who reads this: "if nano technology reaches a stage where quantum size computers could mimic the functions of the human brain cell, would you ever consider becoming a "cyborg" of sorts?"
2006-07-09 14:30:02 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Good question. It would not be you; it would be the equivalent of a clone of you. You would have no ties to it. Your consciousness, and soul for that matter, would stay with your original body (or more importantly the brain). If you kill the original body, you die. Your legacy, knowledge and experiences would live on in your clone without you. I can only hope that god would grant the clone a new soul. I couldn’t imagine living without one. In this case, I would think it would be similar to having a twin.
The same issue has always bothered me with the idea of teleporters. Their workings are usually said to destroy the original body as the new one is created. I would be ok with teleporting my information across time and space to form a new me somewhere else, but don’t destroy the original because that is, of course, me.
To answer emtyen69: I feel that nano will get to that point and I would welcome the additional storage and processing power as an add-on to my brain (the more the better), but not as a replacement.
2006-07-09 22:15:38 · answer #2 · answered by whoevermeam 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Neither. You are you. The body is a place to live; the mind is a machine for you to use to think about stuff.
That's like saying "am I the house I live in or the computer I do my taxes with?"
2006-07-09 20:54:46 · answer #3 · answered by I Know Nuttin 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think it would take a little time to get used to the new shell but we are our minds not our bodies.
2006-07-09 21:35:33 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Have a read of "The Mind's I" by D R Hofstadter and D C Dennett. It deals with this question and more.
2006-07-09 21:44:18 · answer #5 · answered by Shez 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Interesting question? Would the body be a clone?
2006-07-09 20:53:57 · answer #6 · answered by kriend 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most would still have 512 megabytes of memory to fill.
2006-07-09 20:54:39 · answer #7 · answered by sean1201 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I imagine you would feel like you had just gotten a different body.
2006-07-09 21:10:02 · answer #8 · answered by James H 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I agree your soul is you.
2006-07-09 20:57:14 · answer #9 · answered by jrschulz 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋