Thursday, January 19, 2006





I REMEMBER, THEREFORE I AM. OR AM I?

As we extend human lifespan, I think it's inevitable that our definition of self will also extend. People living for centuries or millennia will almost certainly find our contemporary concept of individuality antiquated. If we can live to be 500, the only way for us to maintain the illusion of continuity of self will be by storing memories outside our bodies. If we can store memories, we'll definitely start file-sharing them, and memory mashups might even become a form or recreation.


Just one more reason why Chris Wren is one of my favorite bloggers.

2 comments:

platts42 said...

While it's true that the people we NOW are based on the people we were Then. Unfortunately, due to a faulty encoding process and playback error, the people we become can be radically different from the people we could be.

When we met I told you not to watch the movie The Final Cut with Robin Williams, but I just now remembered that there is an important scene in which something traumatic happens to young RW, but he misremembered it and it effected his adult personality.

You still shouldn't waste your time on the flick though...but I digress.

The people we are are chemical in nature. We are suspended in a tidal matrix of emotions. While we stitch together our own momentular self continutity, it's an illusion because pre-coffee, and post coffee Mac are two very different emotional, intellectual entities. Each would react differently to a similar set of events. Yet you know them to be "you".

Self in a chip: Unless you can simulate the tides of chemical you, you will only be a movie. And I hope it's a better one than that awful Final Cut one.

razorsmile said...

Be sure to catch Blindsight when it comes out later this year. It's from the same guy that wrote Maelstrom and Starfish.

Also, you might get a kick out of this.