Frankly, on Fridays I'm not even sure I have consciousness

[andrewducker]

[Poll #1596138]

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Comments

[andrewducker]

Just to qualify - just because I believe it is reducible to computation doesn't mean that I think that we're going to do so with perfect fidelity, or that I think a perfect simulation of my brain _is_ me.

[dpolicar]

Agreed. I think I would say something even weaker, in that I'm not convinced that hardware is irrelevant to computation.

So maybe we won't be able to replicate human consciousness on platforms radically different from the ones human consciousness is currently running on, any more than we can replicate the Internet on tin cans and string.

I just think the implication of that is non-human consciousness, rather than no consciousness at all.

[andrewducker]

Agreed. If you wanted to replicate a person on silicon, I'm fairly sure you'd have to replicate the hardware as well as the software.

[dpolicar]

(nods) And it might turn out to just be easier to replicate the hardware in its original configuration -- that is, replicate the person on carbon. Which would also have some built-in social-acceptance features.