Mind transfer

In transhumanism and science fiction, mind transfer (also referred to as mind uploading or mind downloading, depending on one's point of reference), or whole body emulation refers to the hypothetical transfer of a human mind, body, and environment to an artificial substrate.

Ethical issues of mind uploading

There are many ethical issues concerning mind transfer. Viable mind transfer technology would challenge the ideas of body identity, human immortality, property rights, capitalism, human intelligence, an afterlife, and the Judeo-Christian view of man as created in God's image. These challenges often cannot be distinguished from those raised by all technologies that extend human technological control over human bodies, e.g. organ transplant. Perhaps the best way to explore such issues is to discover principles applicable to current bioethics problems, and question what would be permissible if they were applied consistently to a future technology. This points back to the role of science fiction in exploring such problems, as powerfully demonstrated in the 20th century by such works as Brave New World, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Dune and Star Trek, each of which frame current ethical problems in a future environment where those have come to dominate the society.

Related Topics:
Body identity - Immortality - Property rights - Capitalism - Human intelligence - Afterlife - Judeo-Christian - Man as created in God's image - Organ transplant - Bioethics - Science fiction - Brave New World - Nineteen Eighty-Four - Dune - Star Trek

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