I personally don't believe this will happen... It's an intriguing idea though

But is it ethical? Would you do it?

I believe you are in the wrong mind set, think about this:

Human beings have been programmed by evolution to think in a certain way, and our bodies really are just a carbon based machine. We run on water food and oxygen and AI is getting to the point where it may gain emotion in the next 20 years.

If that is possible, why wouldn't it be to replicate the workings of our brain in a computer type format and be able to slowly become machine?

It wouldn't be you, more a replica of you. Personally I wouldn't do it. There's is nothing I can do that someone else can't do better so there is no need for a copy of me to be saved anywhere really ^_^

Not sure I would like a copy of me roaming earth for eternity. God knows how long it would take before I become insane

Well the way they think it will happen is that we get implants in our brain that stop aging and improve processing and memory, so really it is you. Just like how when someone gets a robotic heart they are still them. So it would be you. You would eventually become more machine than human but it will still be your original conscienceless or in other words, you are in it for the whole run.

putting technology and possibility aside, if this came true while I was still living, I doubt myself would have it done for me. If I just transferred my "brain" into a computer and thus began my "computer life", I would throw away most of mankind's pleasures, which are eating, sleeping, and several other pleasures that I don't know if I should say (if u know wat I mean)... Plus, there will be chances that if there were some dark organization to hack the computer, they can take complete control over u...

not to mention, I don't like to be immortal, life would be way too boring...

A person who may be in some sort of organized religion which has some sort of heaven like afterlife will do anything to avoid this.

I won't try and define my humanity or of others' because although i have a vague idea of what it means to be human, I do not know how to articulate it in a manner that is understandable so i will simply try and relate this vague idea of humanity in relation to something else "tangible" or something we have some clear ideas about.

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The ethics part really comes in how you define your humanity(kinda like what you said). I won't say what i PERSONALLY think about it because i don't want to but i'd like to put out some of the possible thoughts that might arise from this.

For certain people, their humanity lies in the fact they are able to survive and reproduce and simply live life on earth having fun and suffering. For these people this transfer of the conscious certainly seems like a very ethical idea. Because who wouldn't want to avoid suffering and live life as long as possible and simply enjoying all the good it has to offer for an incredible amount of time.

For certain others, their humanity maybe heavily tied to their relationship with others and being able to relate and be with those they are in a relationship with. So this transfer of conscious might be ethical.

Then there are those like my first statement includes. Those whose humanity greatly lies in their relationship to a creator, and/or and all powerful being, or to a god who has a simple power of making your crops grow or so on. These people will either deem this unethical or simply will not care. Those who will deem this bad will do so because it prevents people of their "faith" from reaching that good place, that afterlife they so long for, and that's generally deemed not good.


I hope i've said something understandable and know that the words in quotations are open to interpretation and are generalized.

Well, in a evolutionary point of view, this change would be great and we could travel at light speed (or faster) because all we would have to do is eventually transfer data. We would be able to spread anywhere and survive in any climate, only requiring minerals that almost all planets contain. But at the same time, the question also arises; what is the purpose of life? Is it to eventually become immortal or is there a deep meaning in a limited life-span/the power of survival?

i highly doubt it's immortality, simply because there is not much to gain in immortality IMHO. And generally speaking i've not heard of people talking about immortality as their purpose in life, nor is it what drives them to do the things they do. And similarly, all those different people i've talked about think their purpose in life is different than living for a long time. At least here on earth.

wrong, famous kings and emperors in the past have been looking for an answer to immortality.