tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116478946778818081.post7787067414309710359..comments2023-08-06T00:55:44.689-04:00Comments on Kevin's Walk: musings on BSG mysteriesKevin Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01328790917314282058noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116478946778818081.post-9222484984126045282009-01-18T16:01:00.000-05:002009-01-18T16:01:00.000-05:00Rhesus,I agree. Personal continuity isn't guarant...Rhesus,<BR/><BR/>I agree. Personal continuity isn't guaranteed: it's merely a copy that's been made. Perhaps from the point of view of someone outside the process, like Karl "Helo" Agathon (who marries the Cylon Athena), this fact makes no difference. <BR/><BR/>In one episode of BSG, Helo shoots and kills Athena, knowing that this is a way for her to upload onto a nearby Cylon base ship. When the newly uploaded Athena finally reunites with Helo, he has no trouble accepting this new copy as basically the same person. Creepy.<BR/><BR/><BR/>KevinKevin Kimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01328790917314282058noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116478946778818081.post-29127881349746857412009-01-18T13:02:00.000-05:002009-01-18T13:02:00.000-05:00Only peripherally related, but...I remember readin...Only peripherally related, but...<BR/><BR/>I remember reading about some (Australian?) scientist who thought it would be possible at some point to "download" the information that comprises a person's mind into electronic memory, thus allowing said person to "live" (or maybe "be" is the correct expression?) indefinitely.<BR/><BR/>This is breathtakingly stupid for a variety of reasons, but the main one is that it seems to assume that with downloading, or the electronic transfer of binary information, there's some identity between the original and downloaded info. This isn't the case. Downloading/uploading is just making a local copy.<BR/><BR/>I mean, a person whose mind was transferred in this way would not experience continuity between his old and new bodies or whatever. The new self would be a copy, with no handing-over of consciousness.<BR/><BR/>That scientist is probably an atheist, but his idea is religious in that it presupposes some essence of mind. If mind is purely an artifact of the brain (the product of a gigantic mass of incredibly transient electro-chemical impulses), it seems unlikely that there's any such essence, and an individual's mind is not going anywhere outside of his or her brain.<BR/><BR/>Sorry about that - reading the BG up/downloading stuff reminded me of being irked.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116478946778818081.post-56040155108916272232009-01-17T23:55:00.000-05:002009-01-17T23:55:00.000-05:00Yeah, it’s a combination upload (deceased)/downloa...Yeah, it’s a combination upload (deceased)/download (reborn). It is also extremely fast.<BR/><BR/>I don’t know if you follow it, but “Lost” begins its endgame on Wednesday night. There are even more questions that need answering there, but what happens after we get the answers, especially if they aren’t what we are hoping for? All I know is that when we humans come to the ends of our game, many will be disappointed (not every religion will get it right, if any do); however, I’m counting on nonexistence and a fade out to black. I think religion is just a way to control the masses through fear, intimidation (10 commandments as an avenue for eternal salvation), and fanciful and imagined rewards for being the poor who will never actually inherit the earth, but only the means that other more “godless” types use to build their own empires.<BR/><BR/>JohnAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116478946778818081.post-86371638227998845332009-01-17T22:22:00.000-05:002009-01-17T22:22:00.000-05:00Bill,You're probably right.John,Indeed, a download...Bill,<BR/><BR/>You're probably right.<BR/><BR/>John,<BR/><BR/>Indeed, a download is a download. But since it's the BSG characters themselves that use terms like "reborn" and "resurrected," I thought I'd address the topic.<BR/><BR/>(Actually, from the dying Cylon's point of view, isn't it actually a data <I>upload?</I> I've always wondered about that.)<BR/><BR/><BR/>KevinKevin Kimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01328790917314282058noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116478946778818081.post-18929379284654103072009-01-17T21:28:00.000-05:002009-01-17T21:28:00.000-05:00Interesting analysis, but sometimes a download is ...Interesting analysis, but sometimes a download is actually a download, especially when dealing with computers and technology.<BR/><BR/>I just hope it doesn't pull a "St.Elsewhere" type ending. It's been too good a run to go out with a whimper.<BR/><BR/>John from DaejeonAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116478946778818081.post-41980226145935298232009-01-17T19:38:00.000-05:002009-01-17T19:38:00.000-05:00In a recent TV Guide article, one of the producers...In a recent TV Guide article, one of the producers said that the final Cylon would be revealed at the end of episode one. Unless he was being misleading, I guess it's Ellen...<BR/><BR/>BillAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com