How much could we replace of us before we're no longer ourselves?

[Realsykes]

Replacing your biological body sure has effects on your personality and perception of the self. As you become less human you probably also feel less human and you would feel less like yourself. Imagine looking at yourself in a mirror and all you see are prosthetic parts, a foreign element that you now call yourself even though you know it's not really you. It's like waking up one day in an entirely different body than you were born in. That would fuck you up in the long run, I'm sure of it.

And if we're talking cognitive enhancements then it becomes even worse. Your personality comes from how you interpret events in the past. Those interpretations aren't really accurate and they are definitely biased; It's your brains version of reality and that has shaped you into the person you are today. If you have a perfect memory there's no telling what that would do to your personality. There would be no room for personal interpretation, you'd have perfect and factual memory of every event in your life, it would just become stored information.

So yeah, I don't believe it would require a lot to destroy our current personalities.

Yeah, but what's it mean to be human?



It opens up a whole other can of worms, that one.

[Calfredd]

Self is an illusion.

What you call yourself is memories. As long as you can get a media that can hold your memories and house the conciousness, you will remain you.

But if this were true, you wouldn't have existential crises like Alphonse from Fullmetal Alchemist questioning if he was ever human and his memories not an artificial construct created by his brother. If you took an amnesiac and gave him/her information of another person's life (presumably a dead person so they couldn't refute), would they actually be that person and not who they really are?

[GennGreymane]

Everything but the brain

Even then, only specific parts.

- - - Updated - - -

Let's take an analogy. Suppose you have a house. Over ages, the house is constantly repaired, revamped, modified in multiple ways - but it still remains a house. At some point, the house becomes so old, it is time to destroy it. It is at that point that it is no longer a house.

So, until we die, we are ourselves. Whether we die when everything in our body is replaced or not is the real question.

reminds me of a story paradox.

A man buys a ship, and each year replaces 1 piece of the ship and keeps the old pieces in a shed. he does this until no original pieces remain. Many years later he takes the old pieces and builds a ship with only the old pieces.

Which is the original ship?

Is it the one with the original parts? Or is it the one you have been using all this time?

[Rudkobing]

If Brain/mind is gone then you are not you anymore.

[Sole-Warrior]

Your neurons persist but your organelles within neurons break down. Your entire body, including your brain is like a river. If you want to start replacing your brain with an artificial sub strait, well we will first need to figure out why we are conscious, and we will need to figure out what other substrate would allow for consciousness to exist, and how to do so properly and reliably.

[Ghostpanther]

0%.

Ask anyone who has lost a limb if they are the same person as before. The person you are is never some permanent, immutable thing; it is comprised of our life's experiences. Losing your arm would change who you are, just like losing your job would.

I agree. I lost my foreskin when I was a adult. I think I am a better person now than before because I did.

[Kraenen]

I don't have much to say on this except it reminds me a lot of the ship of Theseus.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus

Other than that I think if you replace your brain (memories/neural connections) you're gone.

[Jtbrig7390]

--snip--

I got to ask did you watch Gotham Before making this post?

[Kaldreno]

Human beings are not sentient. They do not have cognitive thought or emotions. Therefore there is no concept of being human.

[Zephire]

Self is an illusion.

What you call yourself is memories. As long as you can get a media that can hold your memories and house the conciousness, you will remain you.

Agreed. We're also an evolving race so I suppose "ourselves" should evolve as well? I mean, have you lost yourself if you compare yourself today and how you were ten or twenty years ago? Could be quite a different person.

[Bigbamboozal]

Everything but the brain

WHAT?!
/top hat, cane on! queue music, five, six, seven, eight... /highkicks /highkicks /highkicks
...Iffffffffffff I, only had a brain.... /highkicks /highkicks...
...I'd be dangerous... /bat watusy...aaannd out!


OT: Yah I agree, the brain. It's obvious and boring, but we know. It's the brain.

[belfpala]

The most advanced version of this question I've seen simply involves the brain itself. What if you cut your brain in half, but set it up so that it could fire back and forth as it does now? What about quarters? Eighths? What if you got it down to scattering your neurons all over the universe, still able to communicate as they do now? Are you still you?

If I recall it was a short story in http://www.amazon.com/The-Minds-Fant.../dp/0465030912

[Ielenia]

Now that is the question. What do you think?

I think it vastly depends on the person's opinions. Some may lose a leg, a hand or a finger, and they no longer feel they're 'themselves'. Others believe that as long as the brain is intact, you're still 'you'.

In the end, could we replace every organical part if we transferred the info to a robotical one, like a hard drive? I don't think so, while the copy might still think it's the same person, the original would still be dead.

Some may believe that, as long as the human mind can be truly transplanted into a robotic body (not copied, but actually transferred), then you'd be still 'you'.

Of course, if the original was not tied to any organical part but rather it was tied to energy or a soul, that could theoretically be transferred to a new body, could it not? But if said soul does not exist, how much of the organical you could be replaced before the true you ceases to exist? If parts of the brain would be replaced piece by piece, would you even realize it?

I think we need to first determine what exactly 'true you' means. Is the 'true you' your feelings and memories? If so, then we're just 'data in a computer', so to speak. If the soul does not exist (and I don't believe it does) then all we are is stored in the brain. Our brain is the computer, and our feelings and memories are the data.

[Deleted]

what defines a person are their memories

as long as they are preserved you are preserved

even your brain is just hardware

[Noradin]

Depends on how you do it and on the definition of "ourselves" you use.
I'd say possibly everything.
In fact if you usee a strict definition for "replace" nothing you replace could make you not be yourself anymore.

[timesmash]

This thread is so much better if you picture body snatchers arguing about this while smoking joints.

[Vhoosh]

Everything including the brain. All that makes you into the person you are is the sum total of your memories. Babies when first born are a blank slate. They're in essence an empty shell. What gives them an identity of self and makes them them is the quickly growing repository of memories. So you could get rid off all biological tissue and replace it with inorganic matter. As long as the inorganic brain functions like a human brain and contains your memories you will still be yourself.

[Deleted]

Maybe the OP has played Soma recently. Or maybe he should play Soma.

[Charge me Doctor]

I swear that i'll be able to recognize "what kind of topic i will see on GOT forums these days" by looking at popular story-heavy games on steam

[Acelius]

Everything but the brain

Simple as that. The brain is you, the body is simply a tool.