Uploading
From the SL4 Lexicon:
Uploading:
Moving a human consciousness into a new substrate.
Peer Infinity on uploading (Jan. 21, 2008):
If I had all the transhumanist technology I wanted, I would upgrade to a digital mind, and a virtual body. I would then edit out the parts of my mind that I didn't like, and then experiment with all sorts of things. Pretty much exactly like the character Peer did in the novel Permutation City. However, Peer's situation was different - he wasn't able to interact with the outside world. I would at least maintain some contact with the outside world.
I would always make sure to make a backup before each time I start editing my mind. I would even advise other people to make a backup of their mind, even if they don't plan to directly edit it.
I wouldn't just need a backup - I would also need some other sorts of safeguards - an Exoself, or an Outlook, or possibly something else. A backup doesn't help if you if you don't have a way to restore from it.
The definition Diaspora uses for Exoself is: non-conscious software that mediates between a citizen and the Polis operating system.
The word "exoself" seems to have a different meaning in some of Greg Egan's other stories - for example, Peer from Permutation City sets up his exoself to make a predefined series of changes to his mind, while his current self doesn't worry about what changes to make to his mind.
I realize that there are a lot of technical problems to solve before uploading is possible, and that when it finally is possible, it might not work the way I currently expect it to, hence the disclaimer above "If I had all the transhumanist technology I wanted". I am aware that for now, all of this is just fantasy, and wild speculation.
I still want to upload, and I don't care if it makes me a completely different person, or if it interrupts my "stream of consciousness", or if it is nothing at all like being embodied.
So far, the only thing I can think of to do to make it more likely that I will actually be able to upload is to donate to SIAI - http://singinst.org
I also realize that even once the technology is available to upload, there is no hurry for me to upload - I can take the time I need to reconsider if it is really what I want.
Also, after I have uploaded, if I want to try going back to embodied life, I can merge with the backup I made before I uploaded.
So far, about half the transhumanists I talked about this with say that they would rather have a physical body.
Usually, the problem isn't that they don't think that the virtual world would have enough detail to feel as if it was real, or that there is something in the physical world that couldn't be realistically simulated.
I'm guessing that the main reason why they wanted to stay in a physical body is because it would feel more real to them - even if a virtual reality was completely realistic, it still wouldn't be "real", and some people might not be able to accept living in a VR because of that.
I fail to see the validity of the argument, but I usually don't argue the point any further - personally, I consider a physical body to be a waste of atoms, but other people are entitled to their own opinion.
Personally, I don't care how real my surroundings are. Though of course I need some method of ensuring that whatever hardware my mind is being run on is in good condition, and is safe from harm.
Another thing I should mention is that even after you upload, you should still be able to remote-control a robotic body, or even a mostly biological body in the physical world, as if it was your own body.
Anyway, there are more important topics than how we personally use all this transhuman technology. We need to spend more effort on actually making sure that humanity, or transhumanity, or at least something good survives all the changes that are coming.
The following content is transcluded from Wikipedia.
<<start of transcluded content>>
<<end of transcluded content>>
The original page is located at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uploading
- This project or action is currently active - there is currently at least one person working on it.
Template:Categorizedsl4archivelink
<imagemap>localurl</imagemap>
