A follow up to the previous blog...

It occured to me after thinking more about the self transference issue which occupied me yesterday that copying the exact data from one mind to another would not actually transfer the existence of that person. In other words, when the operation was over, you would not wake up in that other body. Instead the original owner of the brain would awaken, albeit having all your quirks and memories. They would think they were you, but it wouldn't be you inside that body. Am I making any sense?

I like using computers as analogies for humans. Your brain is the hardware to the software of your conscience. The brain is a bit like an amalgamation of processor, RAM, and hard drive. Stored on your brain's hard drive is all of your memories, plus your "operating system" - your personality. Your "operating system" effects how you access and use your data, as well as interact with the outside world. Each night we must power down, and when we wake up, the operating system handles the start up tasks that get us ready to face the day again. The system includes a calendar, task list, face book, and various programs to accomplish the myraid of tasks we must go through everyday. Anyway, I'm rambling. (But this is my blog, so I guess that's ok)

The point is, let us say you want to swap your self onto another human. Brain transfers are incredibly difficult processes so let us say that we take another human and wipe their brain. After a format the blank mind is ready to accept new data. Using a machine, you copy the contents of your mind and paste them into the new brain. When you wake up, which body will you be in? Let's say that the copying process did not negatively effect your current brain, and it survives. Would you then wake up in both bodies? I doubt it.

The problem with this situation is that you will effectively create a clone of the data in your head, but not your actual self. Why is this? What if instead of copying the brain was taken out of my head and physically inserted into the other person? Would I wake up in the new body then? How much of the brain, or even parts of the body, are necessary to transfer a consciousness?

Much like Krang (pictured above), I believe that the entirety of ourselves are preserved in our brains, with the body serving as a multifunctional casing providing locomotion, manipulation, communication, and life support services, as well as housing the various sensors that let our brains perceive their surroundings. Unlike Krang however, our brains are not capable of existing outside of the body. We are quite stuck to the mass of meat and tissue that surround us. For now.

SO I posit this question to all you amateur neurologists and metaphysicians out there: What is the smallest physical amount of our bodies that retains our full idea of self? If I want to transfer my essence to another body, what do I need to take with me? Need I take anything at all? Get to work!