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Personal Identity

Uploading

(Text as at 06/07/2023 00:43:12)

Plug Note¹

• Thesis Text:
  1. This Note will discuss the Transhumanist² fantasy of uploading you³ (or your mind⁴) to a computer⁵.
  2. For this to be possible, the “Computer Model” of the mind – which seems to be the dominant paradigm in neuroscience – needs to be true of us, and not just a model. This is the view that the brain operates like a digital computer⁶ and is disputed by, for example, "Epstein (Robert) - The empty brain".
  3. "Miller (Kenneth D.) - Will You Ever Be Able to Upload Your Brain?" points out the formidable technical obstacles to building a full model of the brain, and that consequently Uploading is not to be anticipated any century soon. The author does, however, think that it is metaphysically possible⁷.
  4. I don’t believe this, for the same reason that I don’t think Teletransportation⁸ – even if technically feasible – is identity-preserving. Rather than uploading you, we’d only achieve a simulation. But even if the individual ‘in’ the computer were to be conscious⁹ and a person¹⁰, it would not be you but someone else.
  5. Additionally, this Note should cover the – more realistic but still technologically very remote – possibility of uploading information¹¹ into our brains¹², though this overlaps with Brain State Transfer¹³, though the latter is the uploading of an entire psychology rather than information (and to a brain, rather than a computer¹⁴).

References

• Relevant Works cited above:
  1. "Epstein (Robert) - The empty brain", 2016, Annotations, External Link, Internal PDF Link, Read
  2. "Miller (Kenneth D.) - Will You Ever Be Able to Upload Your Brain?", 2015, External Link, Internal PDF Link, Read
• For a Page of Links¹⁵ to this Note, Click here.
• Works on this topic that I’ve actually read¹⁶, include the following:-
  • Aeon:
    1. "Clark (Andy) & Kuhn (Robert Lawrence) - Aeon: Video - Andy Clark - Virtual immortality", 2019, External Link, Footnote₁₇
    2. "Epstein (Robert) - The empty brain", 2016, Annotations, External Link, Internal PDF Link
    3. "Graziano (Michael) - Endless fun", 2013, External Link, Internal PDF Link
  • General:
    1. "Dainton (Barry) - Self: Philosophy In Transit: Prologue", 2014, Footnote₁₈
    2. "Grossman (Lev), Kurzweil (Ray) - 2045: The Year Man Becomes Immortal", 2011, Write-Up Note¹⁹, Annotations
    3. "Hawthorne (John X.) - Are You Ready For The Cyborg Technology Coming In 2021?", 2018, External Link, Internal PDF Link
    4. "Heyes (Cecilia M.) - Cognitive Gadgets: The Cultural Evolution of Thinking", 2018, Book
    5. "Kaku (Michio) - The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest To Understand, Enhance and Empower the Mind", 2014, Book, Footnote₂₀
    6. "Miller (Kenneth D.) - Will You Ever Be Able to Upload Your Brain?", 2015, External Link, Internal PDF Link
    7. "Moore (Adrian W.) - Is the quest for immortality worse than death?", 2019, External Link
    8. "O'Connell (Mark) - To be a Machine", 2017, Book
    9. "Shoemaker (David) - Personal Identity and Immortality", 2009
    10. "Smith (Barry C.), Broks (Paul), Kennedy (A.L.) & Evans (Jules) - Audio: What Does It Mean to Be Me?", 2015, External Link, Footnote₂₁
    11. "Tegmark (Max) - Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence", 2018, Book
• A further reading list might start with:-
  • General:
    1. "Agar (Nicholas) - Whereto Transhumanism?: The Literature Reaches a Critical Mass", 2007, Internal PDF Link, Read = 33%
    2. "Cerullo (Michael A.) - Uploading and Branching Identity", 2015, Annotations, External Link, Internal PDF Link, Read = 133%
    3. "Chalmers (David) - The Singularity: A philosophical analysis", 2010, External Link, Internal PDF Link
    4. "Corabi (Joseph) & Schneider (Susan) - The Metaphysics of Uploading", 2012, External Link, Internal PDF Link
    5. "Dainton (Barry) - Future Selves", 2014, No Abstract
    6. "Hayworth (Kenneth) - Killed by bad philosophy: Why brain preservation followed by mind uploading is a cure for death", 2010, External Link, Internal PDF Link
    7. "Koene (Randal A.) - Uploading to Substrate-Independent Minds", 2013
    8. "Merkle (Ralph C.) - Uploading", 2013
    9. "Prisco (Giulio) - Transcendent Engineering", 2013

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• For a list of Works that have been considered, but have missed the cut for inclusion in this Section of my Thesis, see the following:-
  1. Read: No items to list.
  2. Further Reading: No items to list.
• This is mostly a place-holder²².

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In-Page Footnotes:

Footnote 17:

• Also look through other works by Andy Clark to get a handle on what he means by 'patterns in information space'.

Footnote 18:

• From a quick look, "Dainton (Barry) - Future Selves" may be a useful follow-up.

Footnote 20:

• I’ve read this book, but it’s insufficiently philosophical for its arguments – such as they are – to be worth considering as a priority.

Footnote 21:

• See Talk 1 by Paul Broks.

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Table of the Previous 6 Versions of this Note:

Date	Length	Title
20/09/2022 11:24:00	3659	Uploading
15/05/2022 13:19:12	3278	Uploading
19/02/2021 00:23:02	2879	Uploading
30/09/2020 21:33:07	2024	Uploading
04/05/2018 12:25:55	4103	Uploading
31/08/2017 19:35:02	1883	Uploading

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Note last updated	Reading List for this Topic	Parent Topic
06/07/2023 00:43:12	None available	Transhumanism

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Summary of Notes Referenced by This Note

2045: The Year Man Becomes Immortal	Awaiting Attention (Personal Identity)	Brain	Brain State Transfer	Computers
Consciousness	Information	Mind	Modality	Note Links Explanation
Person	Plug Note Apologia	Teletransportation	Transhumanism	What are We?
Works Read - Explanation

To access information, click on one of the links in the table above.

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Summary of Notes Citing This Note

2045: The Year Man Becomes Immortal	Aeon Papers - Summary Document: 2017-2018	Androids	Baker - Review - Olson - What Are We?	Biological View
Brain State Transfer, 2	Brain Transplants	Computers, 2, 3	Disembodied Existence, 2	First-Person Perspective
Functionalism	Immortality, 2	Information	Johnston - Human Beings	Non-Human Persons
PID Note, Book & Paper Usage, 2, 3, 4	Psychology	Status: Philosophy of Religion (2025 - March)	Thesis - Chapter 01 (Introduction), 2, 3	Thesis - Chapter 02 (What are We?), 2
Thesis - Chapter 03 (What is a Person?)	Thesis - Chapter 06 (Animalism and Arguments for It)	Thesis - Chapter 07 (The Constitution View and Arguments for It)	Thesis - Chapter 10 (Thought Experiments), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11	Thesis - Chapter 11 (Resurrection), 2, 3, 4
Thesis - Current Stance, 2	Thesis - Personal Identity, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23	Transhumanism, 2	Website Generator Documentation - Functors, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

To access information, click on one of the links in the table above.

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Authors, Books & Papers Citing this Note

Author	Title	Medium	Extra Links	Read?
Aeon	Video - What science tells us about the afterlife	Paper	2, 3	Yes
Agar (Nicholas)	Whereto Transhumanism?: The Literature Reaches a Critical Mass	Paper
Baker (Lynne Rudder)	Review of 'What Are We? A Study in Personal Ontology' by Eric T. Olson	Paper		Yes
Ball (Philip)	How to Grow a Human: Reprogramming Cells and Redesigning Life	Book		Yes
Cerullo (Michael A.)	Uploading and Branching Identity	Paper	2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13
Chalmers (David)	The Singularity: A philosophical analysis	Paper	2, 3, 4
Clark (Andy) & Kuhn (Robert Lawrence)	Aeon: Video - Andy Clark - Virtual immortality	Paper	2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17	Yes
Dainton (Barry)	Self: Philosophy In Transit	Book
Dainton (Barry)	Self: Philosophy In Transit: Prologue	Paper	2	Yes
Graziano (Michael)	Endless fun	Paper	2, 3, 4, 5	Yes
Grossman (Lev), Kurzweil (Ray)	2045: The Year Man Becomes Immortal	Paper		Yes
Hanson (Robin)	The Age of Em: Work, Love, and Life when Robots Rule the Earth	Book	2, 3, 4
Hart (David Bentley)	The myth of machine consciousness makes Narcissus of us all	Paper		Yes
Hawthorne (John X.)	Are You Ready For The Cyborg Technology Coming In 2021?	Paper	2, 3, 4, 5	Yes
Heyes (Cecilia M.)	Cognitive Gadgets: The Cultural Evolution of Thinking	Book		Yes
Johnston (Mark)	Human Beings	Paper		Yes
Kaku (Michio)	The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest To Understand, Enhance and Empower the Mind	Book	2	Yes
Koene (Randal A.)	Uploading to Substrate-Independent Minds	Paper
Merkle (Ralph C.)	Uploading	Paper	2, 3, 4
Monti (Alessandro)	A stable sense of self is rooted in the lungs, heart and gut	Paper		Yes
Moore (Adrian W.)	Is the quest for immortality worse than death?	Paper		Yes
O'Connell (Mark)	To be a Machine	Book	2	Yes
Papineau (David)	Introducing Consciousness	Paper		Yes
Prisco (Giulio)	Transcendent Engineering	Paper
Seung (Sebastian)	Connectome: How the Brain's Wiring Makes Us Who We Are	Book
Shoemaker (David)	Personal Identity and Immortality	Paper	2, 3	Yes
Smith (Barry C.), Broks (Paul), Kennedy (A.L.) & Evans (Jules)	Audio: What Does It Mean to Be Me?	Paper		Yes
Tegmark (Max)	Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence	Book	2, 3	Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Androids	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Biological View	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Brain State Transfer	Paper	2	Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Brain Transplants	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Chapter 01 (Introduction)	Paper	2, 3	Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Chapter 02 (What Are We?)	Paper	2	Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Chapter 03 (What is a Person?)	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Chapter 06 (Animalism and Arguments for It)	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Chapter 07 (The Constitution View and Arguments for It)	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Chapter 10 (Thought Experiments)	Paper	2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11	Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Chapter 11 (Resurrection)	Paper	2, 3, 4	Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Computers	Paper	2, 3	Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Current Position	Paper	2	Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Disembodied Existence	Paper	2	Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - First-Person Perspective	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Functionalism	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Immortality	Paper	2	Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Information	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Non-Human Persons	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Personal Identity	Paper	2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Psychology	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Transhumanism	Paper	2	Yes

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References & Reading List

Author	Title	Medium	Source	Read?
Agar (Nicholas)	Whereto Transhumanism?: The Literature Reaches a Critical Mass	Paper - Cited	The Hastings Center Report, Vol. 37, No. 3 (May - Jun., 2007), pp. 12-17	33%
Baker (Lynne Rudder)	Review of 'What Are We? A Study in Personal Ontology' by Eric T. Olson	Paper - Referencing	Mind, 117:1120-1122, 2008	Yes
Cerullo (Michael A.)	Uploading and Branching Identity	Paper - Referencing	Minds & Machines (2015) 25:17–36	78%
Clark (Andy) & Kuhn (Robert Lawrence)	Aeon: Video - Andy Clark - Virtual immortality	Paper - Cited	Aeon, 19 August, 2019	Yes
Dainton (Barry)	Self: Philosophy In Transit	Book - Referencing (via Paper Referencing)	Bibliographical details to be supplied	7%
Dainton (Barry)	Self: Philosophy In Transit: Prologue	Paper - Referencing	Dainton (Barry) - Self: Philosophy In Transit, Prologue	Yes
Epstein (Robert)	The empty brain	Paper - Cited	Aeon, 18 May, 2016	Yes
Graziano (Michael)	Endless fun	Paper - Cited	Aeon, 18 December, 2013	Yes
Grossman (Lev), Kurzweil (Ray)	2045: The Year Man Becomes Immortal	Paper - Referencing	Time Magazine, February 21, 2011	Yes
Hains (Brigid) & Hains (Paul)	Aeon: C-F	Book - Cited (via Paper Cited)	Bibliographical details to be supplied	51%
Hains (Brigid) & Hains (Paul)	Aeon: Follow-up Boxes	Book - Referencing (via Paper Referencing)	Bibliographical details to be supplied	100%
Hains (Brigid) & Hains (Paul)	Aeon: G-K	Book - Cited (via Paper Cited)	Bibliographical details to be supplied	30%
Hart (David Bentley)	The myth of machine consciousness makes Narcissus of us all	Paper - Referencing	Aeon, 22 May 2023	Yes
Heyes (Cecilia M.)	Cognitive Gadgets: The Cultural Evolution of Thinking	Book - Cited	Heyes (Cecilia M.) - Cognitive Gadgets: The Cultural Evolution of Thinking	Yes
Johnston (Mark)	Human Beings	Paper - Referencing	Journal of Philosophy, Volume 84, Issue 2 (Feb 1987), 59-83	Yes
Merkle (Ralph C.)	Uploading	Paper - Referencing	More & Vita-More - The Transhumanist Reader, Part III - Chapter 15	No
Miller (Kenneth D.)	Will You Ever Be Able to Upload Your Brain?	Paper - Cited	NY Times, 11th October 2015	Yes
Monti (Alessandro)	A stable sense of self is rooted in the lungs, heart and gut	Paper - Referencing	Aeon, 06 December 2021	Yes
More (Max) & Vita-More (Natasha)	The Transhumanist Reader	Book - Referencing (via Paper Referencing)	Bibliographical details to be supplied	6%
Papineau (David)	Introducing Consciousness	Book - Referencing (via Paper Referencing)	Bibliographical details to be supplied	Yes
Papineau (David)	Introducing Consciousness	Paper - Referencing	Papineau - Introducing Consciousness	Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Biological View	Paper - Referencing		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Chapter 06 (Animalism and Arguments for It)	Paper - Referencing		Yes

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Text Colour Conventions

1. Blue: Text by me; © Theo Todman, 2025

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