Transhumanism

Red Lila wrote: A perfectly replicated brain does include emotion.

Yet what "emotion(s)" would it know? Do we not learn emotion from experiencing what is around us? And would a brain already come pre-programmed with such things right off the hop? Interesting statement, and a wonderful thread to read so far

Emotions are the result of chemical processes in the body and the triggering of particular parts of the brain. Every emotion we're capable of would still exist. As such a person whose consciousness was replicated digitally upon their death would have all the same emotional characteristics they did in life.

As far as those emotions are concerned with an AI which never had a prior existence, thanks to the speed at which computers can simulate, you can literally give the AI a history, a childhood, a growing up and by the time you finish it and release it from immediate control it has the context through which to express and deal with emotion.

KidsHealth wrote: http://kidshealth.org/kid/htbw/brain.html#

Emotion Location
With all the other things it does, is it any surprise that the brain runs your emotions? Maybe you got the exact toy you wanted for your birthday and you were really happy. Or your friend is sick and you feel sad. Or your little brother messed up your room, so you're really angry! Where do those feelings come from? Your brain, of course.

Your brain has a little bunch of cells on each side called the amygdala (say: uh-MIG-duh-luh). The word amygdala is Latin for almond, and that's what this area looks like. Scientists believe that the amygdala is responsible for emotion. It's normal to feel all different kinds of emotions, good and bad. Sometimes you might feel a little sad, and other times you might feel scared, or silly, or glad.

So, to replicate the brain, emotions will be needed....

I daresay there will be more to it than that.

I believe the real link will be us.

We will meet it halfway.

If I implant machines into myself that allows a machine to experience MY emotions, mapping my thought processes, nervous system, brain,reactions, subjective decisions, etc, then I actually become its link to being "alive", rather than us trying to create it artificially in its own space so to speak.

I dont think it will necessarily be me going in,or even creating one in a vacuum, or having to artifically give it a history, as much as opening myself up and letting them in, at least as it comes to understanding emotion, subjectivity, and a myriad of other things.

It can use my body to understand what these things are. To in essence feel through me. MY pas, present, and future.

Well, mabye not me per se, but another guinea pig.

As such it will be able to map how my brain responds to stimuli, what chemicals where and how are released, use my nerve endings and sense to experience them in a tactile, tangible, way. To understand what sentience is,what self awareness is.

Feel not only through my senses, but what anger is, what love is,etc.

Hell,at one time we were lizards, and didnt have half the brain functions( or emotions) we have now, nor could we experience the world the same way we do now.

It wasnt even untill man had "free time" that he could contemplate anything beyond mere survival, and that in itself led to the complexity of what we now call " the human experience."

However, we dont have to let technology evolve in its own bubble, and wait so many years to develop. We
can indeed help it along, interact with it, nurture it, etc.

We help them transcend as they help us.

Personally, I really don't have a problem with Transhumanism. Though I do think that there is a major difference between simply recording your memories and information, and downloading your individual consciousness into a computer/robot that will ultimately become your new "body".

We would have to develop some seriously advanced technology in order to achieve the latter. But if it meant that I could, consciously, live to see the colonization of other planets and the further exploration of space, what an incredible - yet, admittedly, fanciful - experience that would be.

Red Lila wrote: A perfectly replicated brain does include emotion.

Replicated emotions, exactly. Not human.

Emotions are the result of chemical processes in the body and the triggering of particular parts of the brain. Every emotion we're capable of would still exist

Without the chemical processes in the BODY?

Just saying it all comes back to the organic body, no meat suit no human. Maybe it's something else, maybe it's a life source (I doubt it)and maybe after a millions of years of evolution, who knows.

Keep the fun going, I'm taking this meat suit backpacking for a few days.

Replicated emotions, exactly. Not human.

Which is why its called "Transhumanism".

However that doesnt mean not real,not alive, not sentient, conscious, self aware, etc.

Replicating emotions does not necessarily mean fabricated, fake or false, though I can see why you would look at it that way.

I dont feel your emotions, are you replicating them? Are they real?

I have to take your word for it.

But all I can base it off of is MY experience and understanding of these things.

Which simply proves that mine are real, and not replicated...

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another, but this is based off of the belief that we in fact do understand how a person may be feeling, but we have no real way of knowing.

Many have thought they have been empathizing, when really they had no understanding of what the other person was going through, but what they felt.

Granted similiar experiences help, which is why AA and such helps. Same problem, stimuli, addiction, etc...So there is bound to be some kind of connection.

Interesting new avenue,but more philosophical in nature.

Kind of like abortion, when does life actually begin, when does a fetus begin to feel, etc.

We are at an age where we are naming stuff...

"Pre-humans", cro-magnon, what-(or who)-ever, didn't worry so much about classifying everything....

Slowly, as we (humanoids) started studying everything, we named our ancestors some "pre-human" designation, and if (when) we progress yet further, our "descendants" will look back on our (current) primitive time and lauuughhhh....:lol: :silly: :lol:.....

They will be as human (read: "like us"), as we are like our ancestors (caveman, and and more primative primates)...

Im just rambling... lol...

Just for fun of the topic, but also a bit interesting as well.

http://bit.ly/14Xg3V3

“This is only a minor setback. I have full faith that we will one day live side by side with, and eventually love and be loved by, robots,” he said.

WOW! :ohmy:

I'm sticking with my dog.