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The so-called "Transhumanist" wants to upload a persons memory to a machine but how do you “transplant” your soul?
If the nature of God was self evident through contemplation (i.e. meditation) this thread would not even have to exist.
Originally posted by Openeye
reply to post by wasaka
The soul is purely a romanticized expression of our consciousness which is produced by the complex chemical processes which occur in our brains. This is proven science. You can change everything about someone by altering their brain chemistry, a sad man can become happy and an angry man can become calm by the removal of specific part of the brain or the addition of another chemical.
This means you have to believe free will is an illusion and that if you copy the brain and paste it somewhere else, then somehow magically that other thing becomes “you.” But this makes no sense. There is no mechanism for the transfer of the focal point of consciousness. If you copy and paste your brain (i.e. “upload” your brain) to another machine (i.e., another body), your human body is still alive and breathing, then you haven’t “uploaded” your consciousness anywhere. You have only made a complex facsimile of your neurology.
And the evidence is incommunicable to those who have not experienced the same: wisdom is attained only by transcendence of the mind.
One who is positive that science and the brain are the end of knowledge, will never begin to understand the deepest implications of our being.
This means you have to believe free will is an illusion and that if you copy the brain and paste it somewhere else, then somehow magically that other thing becomes “you.”
For the sake of argument, let just say that you did upload your mind and in the process effectively cloned your "soul" (for lack of a better word),
that new being would not be you.
Originally posted by FraternitasSaturni
so... where have you debunked transhumanism?
de-bunk (Verb)
Expose the falseness or hollowness of (a myth, idea, or belief).
Reduce the inflated reputation of (someone), esp. by ridicule: "comedy takes delight in debunking heroes".
The Talk
What precisely is a person? And how is the person related to the mind and body? Eminent Oxford philosopher Peter Hacker pieces together the jigsaw puzzle that is the human being.
Dr Peter hacker is an Emeritus research fellow at St John’s College, Oxford University. He is one of the UK’s most distinguished scholars of Wittgenstein and is also known for his conceptual critique of cognitive neuroscience.
Originally posted by Openeye
reply to post by wasaka
For the sake of argument, let just say that you did upload your mind and in the process effectively cloned your "soul" (for lack of a better word),
Okay I like these games,
that new being would not be you.
Says who? You? What your postulating is a intriguing philosophical question no doubt, but until we have the ability to achieve such a feat it is pointless one to ask.
In philosophy, "essence" is the attribute or set of attributes that make an entity (...) what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it loses its identity. Essence is contrasted with accident: a property that the entity (...) has contingently, without which the substance can still retain its identity.
"Essence," in metaphysics, is often synonymous with the soul, and some existentialists argue that individuals gain their souls and spirits after they exist, that they develop their souls and spirits during their lifetimes.
en.wikipedia.org...
Existentialism was coined by Jean-Paul Sartre's statement that for human beings "existence precedes essence." In as much as "essence" is a cornerstone of all metaphysical philosophy and of Rationalism, Sartre's statement was a repudiation of the philosophical system that had come before him. Instead of "is-ness" generating "actuality," he argued that existence and actuality come first, and the essence is derived afterward. So then, if you upload the "actuality" of a person, what you get is their essence at that moment in time (and subject to change). The new essence that would quickly loses its humanity, and come an entity alien to our reality.
Originally posted by JAK
reply to post by wasaka
Here's something which might be of interest:
On Having a Mind, Having a Body, and Being a Person -
Originally posted by Wertdagf
reply to post by wasaka
Nowhere in your post do you produce evidence for a soul.
What you should be saying is that the physical structure of a brain and its consciousness are inseparable. Which doesn't debunk trans humanism... only your ignorant view of it.
There is a man named Sam Harris who has done many lectures on this exact topic and has come to the conclusion that freewill is an illusion. Please when you have some time view his talk on the illusion of freewill.
I know all too well, that the forces of darkness in this world are working hard to effect what we believe (and don't believe), because that gives them control.