Transfer or Copy?

Published June 6, 2018 · Updated July 6, 2022

Hey Guys,

All the talk about “transferring of consciousness” confounds me a bit. It seems to me that they are not trying to transfer anything, rather they are trying to copy it. Just because you take someone’s DNA, copy all their memories and perfect their mannerisms, and put it all in an identical body doesn’t make it the same person. Identical twins have the same DNA, but they are not the same person.

If someone else sees them, they might not know which is which, so the whole idea of trying to fool others by making identical copies might be plausible, but to keep someone alive forever – from that individuals viewpoint – doesn’t seem possible with what they are doing. (If you’ve ever watched the Netflix series “Travelers”, they do manage to take the actual consciousness of a person and transfer it, through time, but the logistics of it have not been explored much in the show and it’s more a suspension of disbelief that must be accepted in the show. It’s a pretty good show if you haven’t seen it, but I’m digressing)

It all boils down to what makes you, you. It’s more than your DNA, your experiences and memories – those are integral, but there is more. Call it your consciousness, soul or spirit I guess. Maybe that is something that can be created with AI, but a copy will always be a copy and never the original. Hmm, might this have something to do with the title of the first episode, season 1?

Krista Wargo

Subscribe Now