One of the most intriguing ideas, that has caught the popular imagination as well as popular interest is whether or not we will one day be able to upload our mind to a computer to later have it downloaded to some future hardware and be digitally resurrected. Movies and TV shows such as Transcendence (2014), Black Mirror (2013), Self/Less (2015), Avatar (2009), and even the Simpsons (Days of Future Future, 2014) all raise in different ways (and with different outcomes) the possibility of uploading ones mind to a computer. The cultural context to all of this is one of new-enchantment with technology, with high hopes as well as fears regarding where technological progress might lead us - studies in molecular biology and human longevity, nano-robots for curing disease and self-driving cars - all feed into this popular discourse and imagination regarding the possibilities and the limits of technology and digital media and the extent to which it might change our lives. I've recently come across this brilliant video, created by Tom Scott (click here to view Tom's personal website) titles: Welcome to Life: The Singularity Ruined by Lawyers, reflecting on the potential practicalities of how it might look like if we could actually one day experience a form of digital resurrection. What does it actually mean to upload our mind? To transform our personality into data? What does it require from us and what are the meanings and implications of thinking of our minds as computers? I think some of the points raised in this brilliant video are important and interesting. Would love to hear your thoughts about it!
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AuthorPaula Kiel, PhD Candidate at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Archives
June 2018
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